A HISTORY 

OF 

THE PRESBYTERIAN 

AND 

GENERAL BAPTIST 

CHURCHES 



IN THE 



mm of CFitslantt ; 



THE USEAR^ 
Of COMG&SMI 

WASHIHOTOll 



MEMOIRS OF SOME OF THEIR PASTORS. 

JEROM MURCH, 

MINISTER OF TRIM STREET CHAPEL, BATH. 



LONDON: 
R. HUNTER, 72, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 
J 835. 




PRINTED BY G. SMALLFIELD, HACKNEY, 



PREFACE 



Various circumstances induced me, some years 
since, to form a plan of a history of the Presbyte- 
rian and General Baptist Churches in the West of 
England. 

No work of the kind existed. There were histo- 
ries of the Puritans — of their successors, the ori- 
ginal Nonconformists — and of a third class, still 
more friendly to liberty of conscience — the Unita- 
rians of the sixteenth and two following centuries. 
But, with the exception of Mr. Wilson's History of 
the London Dissenting Churches, there was no 
series of records of our congregations, no collection 
of memoirs of their pastors, and consequently no 
adequate means of tracing the growth and opera- 
tion of the principles for which Puritans, Noncon- 
formists, and Unitarians were all, more or less, dis- 
tinguished. 

Many Dissenters were anxious that this deside- 
ratum in our literature should be supplied. From 

a2 



iv 



PREFACE. 



time to time interesting accounts of ancient societies 
were drawn up by their ministers, and published in 
the periodical works of the day. Other ministers 
collected information which remained imperfect, 
and therefore unpublished, in consequence of the 
difficulty of obtaining a general knowledge of the 
requisite facts. Fourteen years ago, the Rev. 
Edmund Butcher, of Sidmouth, sent an interesting 
communication to the Monthly Repository, in which 
were the following remarks: '"What Mr. Wilson 
has done for the London churches, I wish some 
other friend to the noble cause of conscientious 
Nonconformity would do for the kingdom at large, 
at least for England and Wales; and, in order to 
furnish materials for such a work, I propose, what 
might very easily be accomplished, that every Dis- 
senting minister should draw up, and send to the 
Repository, a concise account of the church of 
which he is minister, ascertaining, where it can be 
done, the earliest date to which the existence of the 
society can be traced, the names they have borne 
at different periods, where any change has taken 
place, a list of their ministers, how long they occu- 
pied their respective places, where they removed to, 
if they did not continue their services in any one 
congregation for the residue of their lives — with an 
account of the literary productions of such of them 



PREFACE. 



V 



as appeared before the public as authors, and any 
well-authenticated and important particulars con- 
cerning them or the churches to which they be- 
longed."* 

This proposal did not meet with the response 
which it deserved. If Mr. Butcher had been 
longer spared, he would probably have employed 
other means of interesting his brethren on its be- 
half. He died in the following year ; and his plan 

of preserving the names and labours of many ex- 
cellent individuals from total oblivion/' was never 
carri€d into effect. A few years afterwards, some 
attention was excited by an anonymous book, en- 
titled The Manchester Socinian Controversy," 
with an appendix containing a list of Unitarian 
Chapels. The Editors professed to state the origin 
and other particulars of many of the societies ; but 
the information was scanty and inaccurate, seldom 
obtained from the proper sources, and obviously de- 
signed to answer a sectarian purpose. Yet the 
account was widely circulated; it was reprinted in 
America, and conveyed to many in that country their 
present ideas of the history of the churches in ques- 
tion,-]- whilst in England it tended largely to produce 

* Monthly Repository, Vol. xvi. p. 525. 

t See the Christian Examiner, published at Boston, N. E., Vol. iii. 
p. 430. 



vi 



PREFACE. 



an impression peculiarly injurious to the interests 
of Truth. Its publication was speedily followed by 
those legal proceedings, still continued, the object 
of which appears to be not only to deprive a few 
gentlemen of an important trust, which they and 
their ancestors have executed with the strictest 
fidelity upwards of a century, but also to prepare 
the members of the same denomination throughout 
the country, for the assertion by *'the orthodox" of 
a general claim upon their endowments and places 
of worship. Into the particulars of this question I 
must not be tempted to enter. My object is simply 
to shew the necessity of diffusing information con- 
cerning the history of the Presbyterian and General 
Baptist Churches. 

With high opinions of the importance of the task, 
I entertained others, by no means inferior, as to the 
requisite qualifications of the labourer. And I may 
say with perfect sincerity, that I felt I should be 
chargeable with an undue degree of presumption, 
in undertaking an office for which many others 
were far better prepared. I knew that there were 
authors of established reputation, not only inti- 
mately acquainted with the subject, but possess- 
ing an influence which might facilitate their re- 
searches, and an experience which might inspire 
confidence in their judgment. I was also aware 



PREFACE. 



vii 



that there was at least one, among these gentlemen, 
who could have pursued the task, not at intervals, 
" few and far between," of the labours of the Chris- 
tian ministry, — labours unrivalled in urgency and 
importance, — but day after day and week after 
week, with the advantages of almost unbroken ap- 
plication. Nor did I forget that such a work would 
unquestionably secure greater attention if written 
without that attachment to the faith of the churches, 
and that strong desire for their prosperity, which, I 
confess, I deem it my duty to cherish. There was, 
however, no probability that the work would be un- 
dertaken by others; for this reason I ventured to 
engage in it ; my removal to Bath, about two years 
since, enabled me to collect materials with com- 
paratively little difficulty ; and in proportion as my 
brethren in the ministry became acquainted with 
my design, their friendly communications afforded 
me an encouragement greater than I had presumed 
to anticipate. 

It will be perceived that I have contented myself, 
in many cases, with recording the most important 
events. I have, of course, invariably aimed at the 
strictest accuracy ; but it will, probably, be discover- 
ed that in some instances I have been mistaken. 
The candid reader will remember that the volume 
contains many hundreds of dates and names ob- 



viii PREFACE. 

tained from widely different sources ; and that efforts, 
however persevering, to supply deficient, and recon- 
cile conflicting statements must sometimes prove 
unsuccessfid. On subjects of minor importance I 
have often refrained from entering into minute par- 
ticulars ; the similarity in the histories of the con- 
gregations was so great as to render it difiicult to 
afford sufficient information and yet avoid wearying 
the attention of the reader. Whilst, therefore, I 
have enlarged occasionally upon general historical 
facts, and noticed, at some length, the peculiar cir- 
cumstances of several societies, I have passed as 
lightly as possible over the characteristics which 
are common to all. A similar remark applies to 
the memoirs of the ministers. Here, perhaps, an 
apology is necessary to the authors whose contribu- 
tions I have abridged. I believe it will be found, 
that the facts omitted were either noticed elsewhere, 
or would have prevented the introduction of others 
more interesting. In making selections for the 
biographical department, I have been guided by a 
desire to convey a correct general impression as to 
the talents and characters of the Western Pastors. 
And although I have not unfrequently noticed the 
failings incidental to human nature, I may venture 
to anticipate both for ministers and people a verdict 
corresponding to that of the immortal Milton, in 



PREFACE. 



ix 



reference to an earlier race : — It cannot be denied 
that the authors, or late revivers of these sects, v^ere 
learned, worthy, zealous, and religious men, as 
appears by their lives ; and the same of their many 
eminent and learned followers, perfect and powerful 
in the Scriptures, holy and unblameable in their 
•Mves."*- ^^^^g 
My plan originally included two introductory 
chapters on the Origin and Early Progress of the 
Presbyterian denomination. These I have omitted 
in consequence of the accumulation of other materi- 
als, and the recent appearance of two excellent 
pamphlets, "j* But I cannot satisfy myself without 
offering a few observations on the title I have 
chosen, and particularly on the use of the term 
Presbyterian. It has been remarked that few, if 
any, congregations in the West of England are now 
commonly called Presbyterian, and that several, of 
recent origin, have been always denominated Unita- 
rian. These are well known facts ; nor have I the 
slightest wish to promote, either the general resump- 
tion of a term which does not now indicate our 
belief in certain important doctrines, or the aban- 

* Milton on Heresy and Schism. 

t " An Historical Defence of the Trustees of Lady Hewley's Founda- 
tions, by the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F. S. A." ; and " The History, Opinions, 
and Present Legal Position of the English Presbyterians, published under 
the direction of the English Presbyterian Association." 



X 



PREFACE, 



donment of another which unquestionably answers 
this purpose. It must be remembered, however, 
that a large majority of the congregations noticed 
in these pages are of Presbyterian origin, that this 
was their usual appellation for upwards of a century, 
that the same is still frequently given to them and 
their chapels in legal documents, and that they are 
as fairly entitled to it now, as were their venerable 
founders and more recent benefactors. For upwards 
of a century and half, the term English Presbyte- 
rian has not signified — the Christian who, in religi- 
ous matters, is governed by a Synod and believes 
•the doctrines of the Trinity, the Atonement, and 
Original Sin; — it is true that customs have been 
voluntarily retained in our churches, with regard to 
the allotment of certain ofiices to Presbyters or 
Elders ; — but the title was chiefly gloried in by our 
fathers, because it indicated their union with a 
body of Protestant Dissenters, bound by no fetters 
with regard to church fellowship, and left, by their 
trust deeds, at perfect liberty to search for truth 
wherever it could be found. The constitution of 
the societies which have recently arisen in the 
West of England, and have consequently been 
always called Unitarian, is distinguished by the 
same characteristics; — their faith is also the same 
as that of the older congregations; it was both 



PREFACE. xi 



natural and proper that the zeal which led them to 
secede from Trinitarian worship, should also lead 
them to adopt the appellation most decidedly ex- 
pressive of the grounds of their secession ; all, how- 
ever, who hold their leading doctrines, whether 
called Presbyterian, Unitarian, or General Baptist, 
associate with perfect harmony, and may be con- 
sidered as forming but one branch of the Christian 
church. 

The following pages will scarcely be perused by 
many who are unacquainted with the doctrines 
alluded to. Some reader, however, may repeat the 
exclamation made a few years since, by a venera- 
ble Lord Chancellor, " I should be glad to be in- 
formed what a Unitarian is !"* I shall therefore 
state the leading articles of our faith, — concluding 
with the words of Dr. Taylor — one of the brightest 
ornaments of the Presbyterian denomination. 

We believe that it is life eternal to know the only 
true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. We 
believe that God is the Merciful and Impartial 
Parent of mankind, and ever ready to give good 
things to those who ask for them. We believe that 
He is the One Supreme Being, whom we are com- 
manded to worship in spirit and in truth, and that 
in offering our adorations to Him alone, we humbly 

* Speech of the Earl of Eldon, in the House of Lords. 



xii 



PREFACE. 



follow the example and obey the instructions of 
Christ himself. We believe in the Holy Spirit — 
meaning thereby those miraculous endowments 
and inspirations which dwelt without measure in 
Jesus, and in different measures in the Apostles, 
also those various degrees of power and wisdom 
which good men of all ages have derived from their 
ordinary communion with God. We believe that 
to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and 
our neighbour as ourselves, is of the highest im- 
portance ; that although faith and hope are un- 
speakably valuable, charity is greater still; and 
that we ought to aim constantly at being one with 
Christ, and with our fellow-disciples in the same 
manner as Christ was one with the Father. "What 
the Scriptures reveal" (says Dr. Taylor*) '^concern- 
ing the Son of God, we acknowledge and believe. 
We own him in all his offices of prophet, priest, 
and king, as the one Mediator between God and 
man, our Advocate and Intercessor, the surety of a 
better covenant, the Captain and Author of our 
Salvation, the only name under heaven by which 
we can be saved, and who can save to the utter- 
most. We are assured of his incarnation, death, 
resurrection, ascension to heaven, where he is at the 

* Defence of the Common Rights of Christians, first published in 17:57, 
anil republished by the British and Foreign Unitarian Association in 1821). 



PREFACE. 



right hand of God, exalted to be a Prince and a 
Saviour, and from whence he will come at the great 
day to judge both the living and the dead. We 
believe all that he hath himself reported, whether 
by his own mouth or the mouth of his holy apos- 
tles, concerning his person, nature, perfections, his 
offices and works. We take him as he is described 
in revelation; we change nothing of the gospel; 
designedly and knowingly we add nothing, we 
diminish nothing, but leave every thing to stand 
just as it is in the word of God." 

I have already confessed that I desire the welfare 
of the churches maintaining these doctrines. Whe- 
ther I have allowed this circumstance to influence 
unduly the following narratives, it is not for me to 
determine. One thing is certain ; — if I had hoped 
to convey a favourable idea of the energy of our 
body, or of its numerical strength, I must soon have 
laid down my pen in despair. I readily admit that 
although there has been a general improvement in 
our congregations within the last few years, a faith- 
ful review of their history, in point of numbers, is 
far from gratifying. It appeared to me that this 
fact was not sufficiently borne in mind by Unita- 
tarians themselves, — that they peculiarly required 
to be acquainted with the history of these societies 
— with the causes of their original prosperity and 



xiv 



PREFACE. 



their subsequent decline — with the means which 
have been employed where a revival has been pro- 
duced, or where a depression continues. Setting- 
aside the general value of such records, I could 
not avoid hoping that a calm review of the changes 
which have occurred during a period of one hundred 
and fifty years, would excite many useful reflections 
in the minds of those who have the care of the 
present congregations, and who are desirous of wit- 
nessing — not the progress of sectarian opinions, 
not the increase of party zeal and party influence, 
but the advancement of truth, freedom, knowledge, 
virtue, charity, holiness, — all that can elevate the 
human character and increase the sum of human 
happiness. It was no question with me, which was 
preferable — quietness or anxiety — satisfaction with 
what we are, or seriousness as to what we ought to 
be — forgetfulness of our actual condition, or the 
risk of incurring new reproaches respecting it from 
those who are too liable to forget the difliculties we 
have had to encounter. Surely the members of our 
societies should often have their better feelings 
awakened, their noblest energies called into exer- 
cise, by being reminded that they have espoused 
principles of the highest value — principles which 
affect their consciences, their religious improvement, 
their usefulness in this world, and their salvation in 



PREFACE. 



the next — principles for the sake of which their 
forefathers gladly remained in the humblest sta- 
tions^ — nay, often submitted to fines, imprisonment, 
exile, and death. Especially should the younger 
branches of our communities be furnished with an 
impulse to the consistent imitation of the examples 
of their ancestors ; — Dissent is not illegal, but it is 
unfashionable; — Unitarianism cannot be put down 
by the Civil Magistrate, but it often is by the arm 
of Prejudice ; — a steady adherence to virtue does 
not subject a man to ridicule as a Puritan or a 
Roundhead, but it frequently prevents his elevation 
to a sphere of honour and usefulness ; — what, there- 
fore, can be more necessary than to inspire those 
on whom the future welfare of our churches must 
depend, with that holy firmness which would prove 
them to be worthy of their descent and of the cause 
committed to their care 1 

It is not necessary to shew how compatible this 
course of acting is with perfect charity towards those 
who differ from us. My readers will be ready to 
admit, that there is much in the proceedings of our 
fellow-christians of other denominations, particularly 
in their earnest attempts to promote a knowledge 
of the Grospel, which deserves our warmest admi- 
ration. The memoirs in this volume amply testify 
to the learning, the fortitude, the active benevolence. 



xvi 



PREFACE. 



the comprehensive charity, and the never-failing 
piety, of many pastors v^hose faith we regard as 
very different from that first delivered to the saints. 

It is not improbable that on some subjects, (I 
allude more especially to the tyranny of the High- 
Church party, and the sufferings of the Dissenters 
during the reigns of the Stuarts,) my language has 
been strong ; but I may confidently ask the candid 
reader — was there not a cause ? Is it possible 
for one who believes that all established churches 
are unscriptural, — that no government is authorized 
to assume the power of Christ and declare in its 
own words what the national belief shall be, — ^that 
even in the present day, hypocrisy, and worldly 
ambition, and unchristian jealousy, are continually 
promoted by the exclusive patronage of one sect 
and the virtual punishment of all the rest; — is it 
possible for one who believes all this, to write 
calmly of the daring spiritual usurpations of the 
seventeenth century ? Who does not know that 
many members of the Church of England itself 
now look back upon those usurpations with indig- 
nant feelings ? Who does not know that one of the 
clearest manifestations of the recent unparalleled 
progress of the human mind, is the increase among 
all parties of genuine Christian liberality? Man- 
kind are rapidly discovering that in religious 



PREFACE. 



xvii 



matters each must judge for himself, and be judged 
only by his Maker, and that it is the part of duty 
to admire knowledge and genius, truth and virtue, 
wherever they may be found. The truly enlight- 
ened Christian does not rejoice in the possession of 
a mere sectarian literature ; he bends with delight 
over the page of wisdom, whether in the works of 
Channing, or Robert Hall, or Doddridge, or Fene- 
lon, or Jeremy Taylor. And although even among 
those Episcopalians and Nonconformists, Trinita- 
rians and Unitarians, who have drank most largely 
of the spirit of their common Master, there are yet 
great diversities of opinion, they still, in their re- 
spective spheres, reverence more and more the 
inalienable rights of conscience, and accelerate the 
period when all men will stand fast in the liberty 
wherewith Christ hath made them free. 

I have now to express my acknowledgments to 
the friends who have so kindly assisted me. ]\Jy 
warmest thanks are due to Walter Wilson, Esq., of 
this city, the author of the History of the London 
Dissenting Churches. I am also largely indebted 
for the loan of some valuable papers to my relative, 
the Rev. W. H. Murch, Theological Tutor of the 
Baptist College, Stepney. I have peculiar pleasure 
in thus stating, that a large and valuable part of the 
original information in these pages was afforded 

h 



xviii 



PREFACE. 



me through the kindness of two gentlemen of " or- 
thodox" denominations. The reader will perceive 
how much aid I have derived from the Monthly 
Kepository^ the Christian Reformer, and the Unita- 
rian Chronicle ; to each of the respected Editors 
I am under many obligations. I have frequently 
referred to the contributions of my friends in the 
West of England ; but I shall be pardoned for again 
mentioning the Rev. M. L. Yeates, as the corre- 
spondent on whose time I have most frequently 
trespassed. Nor must I omit to state that the re- 
quests for information which I have addressed to 
chapel -wardens, congregational committees, and 
ministers in distant parts of the kingdom, have 
been replied to with great advantage to the work. 

If, under the Divine blessing, this attempt should 
appear serviceable to the cause of truth, and meet 
with a sufficiently favourable reception, I shall 
indulge the hope of employing, at some future time, 
the materials I have collected for histories of con- 
gregations in other parts of the kingdom. 

Portland Place, Bath, 
Nov. 10, 1835. 



CONTENTS. 



€ilouc0St£rs6i're. 

Histories of Congreg'atioiis : — Gloucester, Cheltenham, Ciren- 
cester, Marshfield, Frenchay. 

Memoirs of Pastors : — ^Dr. Mather, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Theophilus 
Browne, Mr. Gregory, Mr. Parry, Mr. Crabb, Mr. Holt, 
Dr. Hort, Mr. Hazlitt Page 1—52 



Histories Calne, Bradford, Trowbridge, Warminster, 

Memoirs : — Mr. Bourn, Dr. Flexman, Mr. Tmning, Mr. 
Daniel Jones, Mr. Gisburne, Mr. Buckler, Mr. Compton 
South, Mr. Andrews Page 52—94 



Histories: — Bristol, Bath, Ashwick, Shepton Mallet, Bridg- 
water, Taunton, Yeovil, Ilminster, Crewkerne, 

Memoirs:— Dr. Estlin, Mr. Rowe, Mr. Christopher Taylor, 
Dr. Coleman, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Jardine, Mr. Billingsley, 
Mr. Stogdon, Mr. Gumming, Mr. Matthew Towgood, 
Dr. Sherman, Mr. Jillard, Mr. Simon Browne, Mr. 
Norman, Mr. Moore, Mr. Matthew Towgood, Jun., JMr. 
Watson, Mr. Whinnel, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Harrison, Dr. 
Toulmin, Mr. David, Dr. Amory, Mr. Bartlett, Dr. Lobb, 
Dr. Milner, Mr. Ward, Mr. D. Hughes, Mr. Batson, Mr. 
Strong, Mr. Blake, Mr. Blake, Jun Page 94—248 



CONTENTS. 



Histories : — Bridport, Dorchester, Wareham, Poole. 

Memoirs: — Mr. Howe, Mr. Wawne, Mr. Benn, Mr. Lamb, 

Mr. Hardy, Mr. Wesley Page 248—298 



Histories: — Collumpton, Honiton, Colyton, Sidmoiith, Lymp- 
stone and Gulliford, Topsham, Exeter, Crediton, Moreton- 
Hampstead, Tavistock, Plymouth, Devonport. 

Memoirs: — Mr. Crompton, Mr. Morgan, Mr. John Davis, Mr. 
INIaynard, Mr. Adams, Mr. Webb, Mr. J. Hughes, Mr. 
Anstis, Mr. Cornish, Mr. Butcher, Mr. Tapper, Mr. T. 
Jervis, Mr. J. Jervis, Mr. Stuckley, Mr. Atkins, Mr. 
Hallet, Mr. Trosse, Mr. Peirce, Mr. Micaijah Towgood, 
Mr. Kenrick, Mr. Bretland, Mr. Manning, Mr. Reynell 
(Crediton), Mr. Woolcombe, Mr. Foot, Mr. Collier, Mr. 
Rowland, Mr. Isaac, Mr. Sandercock, Mr. Merivale, Mr. 
Theophilus Edwards, Mr. G. Hughes, Mr. N. Jacob, Mr. 
N. Harding, Mr. H. Moore (Liskeard), Mr. ReyneU (Ply- 
mouth), Dr. J. Jones, Mr. J. Jones Page 298—532 



Histories : — Falmouth and Flushing. 

Memoir : — Sir Harry Trelawny Page 533 — 546 

Appendix: — Sketches of the History of the Exeter Assembly 

of Ministers, and of the Western Unitarian Society .... 547 



Index 



571 



ERRATA. 



Page 158, for " Pierce," read Peirce. 

170 and 171, for " William Peard Jillard," read Peard Jillard. 

194, for "till the 1797," read till the year 1797. 

215, for John Glass," read Robert Glass. 

220, for ''Robert Bartlett," read Edivard Bartlett. 

368, last line, for " in the neighbouring town of Totnees," read in 

Totness, the next town on our list. 
524, for " to which is subjoined," read to which are subjoined. 



B 



GLOUCESTER. 

CHELTENHAM. 

CIRENCESTER. 

MARSHFIELD. 

FRENCHAY. 



B 



GLOUCESTER. 



This respectable city is situated in the Vale of Gloucester, on a 
gentle eminence, rising on the east side from the river Severn. The 
honour of founding it is due to the Britons, who named it Caer GloeWy 
the appellation by which it is yet distinguished in Wales ; and Alfred 
of Beverley mentions it as one of the twenty-eight cities erected by 
them previous to the Roman Invasion. Caer Gloew signifies the 
Fortress of Gloew. 

Henry the Eighth by letters patent, dated September the third, 
1541, and afterwards confirmed by act of parliament, erected the city 
of Gloucester, the county of that city, and all the county of Gloucester, 
into a bishopric, with a dean and chapter, by the name of the diocese 
of Gloucester. The church appointed for the cathedral of the new 
see was that belonging to the Abbey, founded by Wolphere, first 
Christian king of Mercia, and Ethelred, his brother and successor, 
between the years 680 and 682. This magnificent structure combines 
many interesting specimens of Saxon, Norman, and English architec- 
ture ; and particularly of the latter. 

In the city and suburbs of Gloucester were formerly eleven parochial 
churches, but those only of St. Michael, St. Mary de Ciypt, St. 
Nicholas, St. Mary de Lode, St. John's, and St. Aldate are now stand- 
ing; the remainder having been either destroyed at the siege in 1643, 
or since taken down. — Brayley and Britton. 

Population in 1811,-8181; in 1821,-9744; in 1831,-11,933. 



b2 



BARTON STREET CHAPEL. 



The city of Gloucester is distinguished in the 
annals of Unitarianism^ as one of the first places in 
which its doctrines were revived. Here lived the 
celebrated John Bidle, and here^ nearly two cen- 
turies ago, " he perceived (says his biographer) that 
the common doctrine concerning the Holy Trinity 
was not grounded in Revelation, much less in Rea- 
son."* In the year 1644, while filling the honour- 
able office of master of the Crypt Grammar School, 
he was accused of heresy before the magistrates of 
the city, — which accusation he answered by exhibit- 
ing in writing a confession of his faith in One In- 
finite and Almighty Essence, called God," and in 
our Saviour Jesus Christ as truly God," in conse- 
quence of his union with him. As he professed his 
belief in only one person in the Godhead, many 
suspicions of his orthodoxy were still entertained, 
and eighteen months afterwards he was committed to 

* See a short account of the "life of John Bidle, M.A., sometime of 
Magdalen Hall, Oxon.," prefixed to one of his works. This interesting 
memoir appears in a small quarto volume, now rarely met with, containing 
a few valuable treatises on the doctrines of Unitarianism, one of which 
was published so early as the year 1648. See, also, Toulmin's Life of 
Bidle. This author has not mentioned his reason for changing the ortho- 
graphy of the name. In the original life it is invariably Bidle. 



GLOUCESTER. 



5 



the common prison on the charge of having denied, 
both in writing and conversation, the Deity of the 
Holy Spirit. 

From this time John Bidle became more earnest 
in his inquiries after truth, and more fearless in his 
avowal of the results. He was released, however, 
after a confinement of six months, on giving security 
for his appearance before the Parliament in London. 
Thither he was summoned, by that body, in April, 
1647 ; and notwithstanding their denunciations 
against the spiritual tyranny of the Church of En- 
gland, they treated this dissenter from their own 
doctrines with more than episcopal rigour.* But 
before his departure for London, and probably du- 
ring the whole of his future life, his exertions and 
suflPerings, which were increased in importance by 
his gr^at learning and unblemished character, pro- 
duced a considerable effect in Gloucester. We are 
toldf that while he was under bail for his appear- 

* While the Presbyterians were in power, they were certainly not the 
friends of true religions liberty. It Vv^as not until they had suffered many 
years from the deprivation of the rights of conscience, that they contended 
for toleration. The treatment of Bidle fully bears out the account given 
by Hume, of the tendency to act upon persecuting principles in the pre- 
ceding year. " Nothing was attended with more universal scandal than 
the propensity of many in the parliament towards a toleration of the pro- 
testant sectaries. The Presbyterians exclaimed that this indulgence made 
the church of Christ resemble Noah's ark, and rendered it a receptacle for 
all unclean beasts. They insisted that the least of Christ's truths was 
superior to all political considerations. They maintained the eternal obli- 
gation imposed by the covenant to extirpate heresy and schism. And 
they menaced all their opponents with the same rigid persecution under 
which they themselves had groaned, when held in subjection by the hie- 
rarchy."— Hume's History of England, Vol. vii. p. 71. 

t Wood's Athenae Oxoniensis, Vol. ii. p. 300, and Lindsey's Historical 
View of the State of the Unitarian Doctrine and Worship, p. 126. 



6 



GLOUCESTER. 



ance before the Parliament^ Archbishop Usher, who 
happened to be travelling through Gloucester in his 
way to London, having before heard of him, spoke 
to and used him with all fairness and pity, as well 
as with strength of argument, to convince him of 
his dangerous error." The historian, however, adds 
an observation which conveys an idea of coarse ill- 
nature and determined prejudice rather than of 
" fairness and strength of argument" — " telling him 
(he says) that either he (Bidle) was in a damnable 
error, or else that the whole Church of Christ, who 
had in all ages worshiped the Holy Ghost, had been 
guilty of idolatry." 

Although this noble-minded man widely diffused 
sentiments unfavourable to established customs and 
opinions, the Barton Street congregation cannot be 
said to owe its origin to him. It was formed, 
by a singular coincidence, in the year of his 
death, 1662, and was identified from the first with 
that greater and more glorious cause of Nonconfor- 
mity, of whose birth he lived just long enough to 
hear. As he languished within the walls of his 
dungeon, he was gladdened by the tidings that, in 
every part of the kingdom, hundreds of pious and 
learned ministers were preparing to suffer in conse- 
quence of the Act of Uniformity ! Great was his 
encouragement to close his troubled pilgrimage 
with the prayer of the aged Simeon upon his lips ; 
for it Avas impossible that such a man could avoid 
perceiving that the principles he had advocated, 
" amid evil days and evil tongues, ^ would be ulti- 



GLOUCESTER. 



7 



mately forwarded by the events of the ever-memo- 
rable Bartholomew Day. 

The cause of Nonconformity at Gloucester was 
founded by two ministers who originally belonged 
to the Church of England.* One was Dr. Increase 
Mather, a native of Dorchester in New England, but 
connected by education and relationship with this 
country and Ireland. He came to Gloucester, from 
the island of Guernsey, at the earnest solicitation 
of Mr. Forbes, who was a preacher at the Cathedral ; 
and thither he returned again a short time before 
the Restoration. The usurpations which followed 
that event obliged him to go back to his native land, 
where he resisted successfully the measures of the 
infatuated Stewarts, and spent the remainder of his 
life in honourable ministerial labours. Short as 
was the time of his residence at Gloucester, he pro- 
bably proved himself efficient in fostering that love 
of liberty, both civil and religious, which the inha- 
bitants of the city manifested on several trying oc- 
casions during the struggles of that period. Their 
bold and successful resistance of the Royal army, 
in the year 1642, indicates that they were attached 
to Presbyterianism even then ; there being few in- 
stances of such resistance, in which the preference 
of the leaders of the Parliamentary forces for this 
form of church government was not heartily shared 
by those who enlisted under their banners. 

* Nonconformists' Memorial, Vol. i. p. 540, edition of 1775. To this 
edition all my subsequent references will be made. 



8 



GLOUCESTER. 



The other minister was Mr. James Forbes, who 
was ejected from the Cathedral by the Act of Uni- 
formity. The church to which he had preached con- 
sisted chiefly of his own converts^ made during a 
ministry of six years. At first he laboured privately 
after his ejectment; but as all attempts to induce him 
to conform entirely failed, he was soon interrupted 
by harassing and expensive persecutions. On one oc- 
casion he was committed to Chepstow Castle, where 
he was long confined in a strait and dark room ; and 
while pursuing his pastoral labours after his dis- 
charge, he was subject to several imprisonments. 
The penalty of one act on which he was indicted 
was imprisonment for a year ; of another, the pay- 
ment of twenty pounds a month; and of another, 
perpetual banishment from his country or death. 
He was at length excommunicated, and the writ de 
capiendo was out against him. At the time of the 
Duke of Monmouth's rebellion he retired to Enfield, 
but was afterwards recalled and allowed to labour 
once more among his own people. The present 
chapel in Barton Street was erected for his use, in 
the year 1699 ; he continued to preach in it until 
the year 1712, when he died, having been connect- 
ed with the congregation fifty-eight years. His 
remains were interred in a vault in the chapel, at 
the foot of the pulpit, and under a black slab, which 
is concealed by the platform on which the commu- 
nion table stands. On this slab is the following 
inscription : — 



GLGUCESTER. 



9 



Jacobus Forbesius, a.m., in hac civitate annos circiter 
58 FiDELis Christi Minister, et Testis Veritatis et 
Pacis Evangelic^ ^que studiosus. Obiit 31 Maii, Anno 
MDCCXII. .^tatis LXXXIII * 

Mr. Forbes had several assistants towards the 
latter end of his life. One was Mr. John Reynolds^ 
who was at Gloucester from 1706 to 1708^ when he 
removed to Shrewsbury, He was succeeded by Mr. 
Denham, who became the pastor on the death of Mr. 
Forbes^ and was ordained at Gloucester in 1713. 
Nine years afterwards, Mr. Denham removed to 
London^ and the congregation elected Mr. Jeremiah 
Tidcombe ,who also removed to London, after filling 
the office the same length of time. Mr. Denham 
officiated, for some time after his removal, as min- 
ister of the Presbyterian congregation then meeting 
in Gravel Lane, Houndsditch ; •]• and Mr. Tidcombe 
was pastor of a congregation at Radclifife Cross, and 
afternoon preacher at Salters' Hall.J The next 
minister was Mr. Richard Addey, from Kingswood, 
Wilts., who continued with the congregation till 
his death, in 1739. They were then destitute twelve 
months, and at length chose Dr. Hodge, who was 
educated at Taunton under Mr. Henry Grove. 
Before he settled at Gloucester he was the minister 
of a congregation at Deal, in Kent; in 1749 he ac- 

* Communicated, with other particulars, by the Rev. G. B. Brock. 

f Wilson's History of Dissenting Churches in London, Vol. i. p. 397. — 
My plan does not include, for obvious reasons, distinct memoirs of all the 
ministers. Of those concerning whom full particulars are not given, there 
will be short notices in the historical parts of the work. 

: Wilson's Hist., Vol. ii. p. 39. 



10 



GLOUCESTER. 



cepted an invitation to succeed Dr. Grosvenor at 
Crosby Square, London.* At the commencement 
of his ministry at Gloucester, the register of bap- 
tisms belonging to the chapel was begun ; and from 
this source we learn that he was followed, in the 
year 1751, by Mr. Dickenson ; the congregation 
having been supplied in the interval by various 
ministers, particularly by Mr. Evans, of Bridge- 
north, and Mr. Parry, of Cirencester. Mr. Dicken- 
son's name appears in the register until the close of 
the year 1784, when he became infirm, and the con- 
gregation elected as his assistant Mr. Tremlett, who 
removed before the death of the pastor, which oc- 
curred in 1796. The subsequent ministers have 
been — Mr. Aubrey, now of Swansea, who remained 
at Gloucester seventeen years ; Mr. Browne, late of 
Bath, who was the minister nine years ; Mr. Astley, 
now of Shrewsbury, who left at the end of five 
years ; and Mr. Brock, who settled here on his 
finishing his course of education under the Rev. H. 
Acton, of Exeter. Between the retirement of Mr. 
Browne and the election of Mr. Astley, the chapel 
was closed for two years, considerable repairs being 
necessary, and the funds being required to accom- 
plish them. 

The numbers of the society have varied conside- 
rably at different periods. In the time of Mr. 

* Dr. Hodge bequeathed his vahiable library of books to the Taunton 
Academy. They were afterwards removed to Exeter. — Wilson's Hist. Vol. 
i. p. 354, where the reader may find a list of the works of Dr. Hodge, and 
a description of him as "a learned and respectable man, of moderate 
sentiments, and an excellent preacher." 



GLOUCESTER. 



u 



Forbes and Mr. Denham they were large, there 
being no other Dissenting place of worship in the 
city. The Independent chapel was built soon after 
the choice of Mr. Denham, on which occasion a 
separation took place. Mr. John Alexander was 
the first minister of the new society. The worship- 
ers in the old chapel had a considerable majority ; 
in 1715, Mr. Denham had 400 hearers, and Mr. 
Alexander 250.* At the time of the division, the 
seceders secretly removed a valuable theological 
library, bequeathed by Mr. Forbes for the use of 
his successors at the Presbyterian chapel. Both 
the late and the present Independent ministers have 
fully recognised the right of their brethren in Bar- 
ton Street to this important legacy ; and an attempt 
has been made, though without success, to recover 
it, and fulfil the liberal intentions of the donor by 
making it of general utility.-]- At the same time 
four silver cups, bequeathed by Mr. Forbes for the 
use of the chapel, in the administration of the Lord s 
Supper, were carried off also ; these were in use 
until lately at the Independent chapel ; an applica- 
tion w^as made for their restoration, but no reply 
was given. The minister's house, which forms the 
eastern boundary of the place of worship in Barton 
Street, did not happen to be moveable, and therefore 

* Mr. Wilson's MSS. 

t After providing especially for the use of the books by his successors at 
Barton Street, Mr. Forbes empowered the Trustees " to lend one book at 
a time to any of the Protestant Dissenting Ministers living in the county 
of Gloucester, or to any of the Protestant Dissenting congregation in the 
city of Gloucester." 



12 



GLOUCESTER. 



remained in the possession of the original congre- 
gation. This building has an antique appearance, 
and was probably built soon after the chapel. 
There is a small endowment^ the trust-deed of 
which, as well as of the chapel, is drawn in the 
most liberal terms. No creed is imposed upon the 
parties assembling in this house of prayer ; they are 
merely required to be *^^his Majesty's Protestant 
subjects dissenting from the Church of England." 
The cause of the secession does not appear. Mr. 
Denham was probably more liberal than the sece- 
ders wished him to be. Dr. Hodge was an Arian ; 
of the opinions of his predecessors we have no in- 
formation ; after his death the congregation gradu- 
ally became Unitarian. 

I have stated that the chapel was built in 1699. 
Like many others of that period, it is situated seve- 
ral yards from the street. With the exception of a 
part of the roof it is concealed by a brick wall, in 
which is the outer entrance gate, and which is 
parallel with the houses of the street. The exterior 
of the building is very plain and presents no pre- 
possessing appearance, having a vestry standing on 
one side in front, and projecting forward like a 
solitary wing. It is in contemplation to erect ano- 
ther vestry or school-room to correspond with it; 
and afterwards to throw down the outer wall, place 
palisades in its stead, and thus render the chapel 
more conspicuous. The interior possesses an air 
of antiquity ; galleries occupy three sides, and the 
pulpit, crowned with a massive sounding board. 



GLOUCESTER. 



13 



stands against the fourth. At the foot of the pulpit 
is a reading desk, and below this a handsome 
communion table with a marble slab. In the 
gallery, opposite the entrance, is a small organ. 
The devotional services are aided by the Reformed 
Liturgy, and a selection of hymns printed for the 
congregation, under the superintendance of Mr. 
Astley. In the winter months lectures are de- 
livered, which are well attended, and have been the 
means of exciting a spirit of inquiry in Gloucester 
and the neighbourhood. The congregation now 
consists of about a hundred persons, among whom 
are the descendants of some of the most ancient 
families in the city, — the original supporters of Pro- 
testant dissent and the firm friends of religious 
truth. At the back of the chapel is a small burial- 
ground. The resting places of many are indicated 
by gravestones and raised tombs, with suitable 
inscriptions. 

James Forbes, M.A 

John Reynolds 

John Denham 

Jeremiah Tidcombe 

Richard Addey 

John Hodge, D.D 

John Dickenson 

John Tremlett 

Richard Aubrey 

Theophilus Browne, M.A.. .^;#i^v. 

Richard Astley 

George Browne Brock 



1662—1712. 
1706—1708. 
1709—1722. 
1722—1731. 
1731—1739. 
1740—1749. 
1751—1796. 
1784—1795. 
1797—1814. 
1815—1824. 
1826—1831. 
1831. 



14 



GLOUCESTER. 



- Increase Mather, D.D. — Dr. Mather's connexiou with 
Gloucester requires the insertion of a few particulars of his 
useful and eventful life. 

He was the youngest son of Richard Mather, who went to 
New England in 1635, when he could no longer exercise his 
ministr}- conscientiously in his native country. Increase was 
placed, for his academical education, first at Harvard College, 
and afterwards at Trinity College, Dublin, in which city his 
eldest brother was a minister. His first settlement was at Great 
Torrington, in Devonshire, the parish of the learned and excel- 
lent John Howe : here he was near another brother, Nathaniel 
Mather, then minister at Barnstaple. On Mr. Howe's return 
to Torrington in 1659, after Richard Cromwell quitted the Pro- 
tectorship, the subject of this memoir accepted an in^dtation 
from Colonel Bingham, Governor of Guernsey, to preach in that 
island. He remained there some time before he removed to 
Gloucester, and there he was again stationed several years af- 
terwards, when General Monk carried round a paper to be 
signed, declaring that "the times then were and would be 
happy." This paper Mather would not sign; and on the ap- 
pointment of another governor, finding it necessary to conform 
or lose his place, he came to England, to be exposed to fresh 
temptations, and to resist them with equal steadiness. Here, 
though he was offered a living of some hundreds a year, if he 
would forsake his principles, he chose rather to trust to God's 
providence ; he therefore sailed for New England to join his 
aged father, and was soon settled in the New Church, in the 
north part of Boston.* 

Mr. Mather often distinguished himself in America as a warm, 
friend of Liberty. In 1683, Charles the Second required from 
the inhabitants of New England, a full submission of their 
charter to his pleasure. On this the freemen of Boston met ; 
the pastor of the New Church was present ; he publicly declared 
against their ha\dng " a hand in their own ruin," and persuaded 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 540. 



GLOUCESTER. 



15 



them rather to leave themselves in the hands of God, and sub- 
mit to his pleasure in a faithful discharge of their duty. The 
question was carried in the negative, unanimouslv ; and this 
decision had considerable influence on the country at large. 
When James the Second published his declaration for liberty of 
conscience, Mather was sent to England with addresses of 
thanks to him from several congregations. Remaining in this 
country until after the revolution, he was of great use in obtain- 
ing the appointment of a suitable governor, and the grant of a 
new charter with additional privileges for his fellow- citizens. 
Soon after his return there was a meeting of the general assem- 
bly of the province, and the speaker of the house of representa- 
tives publicly returned him thanks, for his faithfal and indefati- 
gable services. 

He now returned to the care of his church, and of the college 
of which he was president. About this time he was created 
Doctor in Divinity. In 1701 he resigned his office in the 
college, because the general assembly required the president to 
reside at Cambridge. He continued preaching to his beloved 
people at Boston, and reached the age of eighty before his intel- 
lectual faculties appeared to lose their vigour. He died in 
1723, in the arms of his eldest son, and was honoured by his 
church with a greater funeral than had ever been seen in those 
parts. His foneral sermon was preached by Mr. Foxcroft ; and 
the ministers of Boston condoled with his church, in his own 
pulpit, for nine or ten weeks successively. 

The Nonconformists' Memorial has a list of eighty-five 
works, chiefly pamphlets, published by this celebrated man. 
Besides the usual subjects of a minister's publications, we find 
discourses on Comets — Earthquakes — The Stormy Winds — 
The Troubles of New England — and " Whether a man may 
marry two sisters." The names of his descendants are well 
known, to all who feel an interest in the religion of the New 
World as those of men who have filled prominent and useful 
offices in her colleges and churches. 



16 



GLOUCESTER. 



James Forbes, M.A. — This gentleman was a member of 
an honourable Scotch family. After taking his degree of 
Master of Arts at Edinburgh, he spent some time at Oxford. 
Full of piety, he was earnestly desirous that God would choose 
for him a useful station, and bless his ministry to the conversion 
of souls. Not being satisfied with a parish which was offered 
to him, he was sent to the cathedral at Gloucester, where he 
laboured with great success, and with so much zeal that he was 
in danger of shortening his life. After his ejectment, and 
while he continued to minister privately among his people, Dr. 
Frampton, first Dean and afterwards Bishop of Gloucester, 
made overtures to him to conform. The powers that were, 
finding temptations ineffectual, resorted to the persecutions 
mentioned in the account of the congregation. These also 
feiiled to subdue his attachment to liberty. He steadily per- 
severed in his determination to maintain a conscience void of 
offence. During the latter part of his life, after the establish- 
ment of Toleration, Mr. Forbes lived in> peace and comfort at 
Gloucester, chiefly on his own property. He was a pious, 
benevolent, and learned man ; deeply wounded at the last 
by some decays among ministers and other professors; and 
anxious that the rising generation of ministers should adorn 
their doctrine by a holy conversation. His funeral sermon was 
preached by Mr. Isaac Noble, of Bristol. 

He published a few works on subjects relating to his pulpit 
and pastoral duties.* 

The Rev. Theophilus Browne, M.A., was born in the 
city of Derby. At the usual age he entered as a student in 
Christ Church College, Cambridge. Here he was distinguished 
for talent, application and extensive attainments. After taking 
the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, he was admitted 
Fellow of Peterhouse, July 1.5th, 1785. This appointment 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 546. 



GLOUCESTER. 



17 



he continued to hold until December 1793, when he had 
a presentation to the vicarage of Hinton, in the county of Cam- 
bridge. While performing the quiet duties of a parish priest, 
he found time for a more careful and diligent study of the Scrip- 
tures than he had previously been able to engage in. Inti- 
mately acquainted with the original languages, well skilled in 
the art of criticism, and ardently devoted to the pursuit of 
truth, he soon saw reason to believe that the Trinity, the Deity 
of Christ, and other doctrines of the Church of England were 
unscriptural. As soon as his conversion to Unitarian Christi- 
anity was settled, he perceived that there was but one course 
for him to pursue ; he resolved to give up his preferment, re- 
linquish his connexion with the Establishment, and unite 
himself with a body of Christians in whose service he could 
enjoy perfect freedom. Yet to carry this resolution into elfect 
probably cost him a severe struggle ; his lot in life was linked 
with that of a lady who was or had been, like himself, a consci- 
entious member of the Church ; and a man of his abilities and 
acquirements might have fairly calculated on attaining a higher 
rank in the Establishment than that of vicar of a country 
parish. 

Nothing, however, led Mr. Browne to waver in his righteous 
determination. The circumstance being known, about the 
latter end of the year 1800 he received an invitation from the 
Unitarian society at Warminster. This he accepted, and con- 
tinued to officiate as their minister seven years. He then 
went to York to fill the office of classical tutor at the Manches- 
ter College. His next situation was in the Octagon Chapel, 
Norwich, where he remained about two years. He afterwards 
officiated successively at Congleton, Chester and Gloucester; 
at the two former places his ministrations were short; at the 
latter he remained eight years from 1815 to 1823. From 
this time Mr. Browne resided in Bath as a private individual, 
only preaching when his services were sought for by ministers 
in the neighbourhood. But the close of his life was far 
from being marked by inactivity ; his means of usefulness, 

C 



18 



GLOUCESTER. 



which he retained to the last, he diligently employed ; he was 
particularly attentive to the poor, and earnestly desirous of re- 
lieving both their temporal and spiritual wants. At the time 
of his death he was president of the Bath Mechanics' Institution, 
in which society he had been an occasional lecturer, and in 
connexion with which he formed several classes of young persons, 
to whom he communicated biblical as well as general knowledge. 

Mr. Browne was the author of " Selections from the Old 
and New Testament," and a Sermon on the Necessity of an 
Improved Version of the Scriptures. He compiled a Liturgy 
and edited " Russell's Devotional Addresses"; "a Volume of 
Posthumous Sermons by Dr. Toulmin," and " Select parts of 
Melmoth's Great Concern of a Religious Life." 

His last illness was of short duration ; he preached at the 
Bath Unitarian chapel, in the absence of the pastor, about a 
fortnight before his death, which occurred May 20, 1835, in the 
72nd year of his age. His remains were interred at Lyncomb, 
near Bath, in the same vault with those of his wife, carried 
thither but a few months previously.* 



* Christian Reformer, N.S., Vol. ii. p. 508, 



CHELTENHAM 



This fashionable town is supposed to have derived its name from 
the river Chilt, vi^hich flows past it on the south side. 

The Spring-, or Spa as it is called by way of distinction, was first 
noticed to possess medicinal properties in the year 1716. 

Since that time the buildings have progressively improved, both in 
appearance and number. The first Master of the Ceremonies in this 
place was appointed in 1780. 

The situation of Cheltenham is extremely pleasant ; on the south 
and west it is open to the vale, but on the north-east it is sheltered by 
the immense amphitheatre formed by the Cotswold Hills. 

Population in 1811,-8325; in 1821,— 13,396 ; in 1831,-22,942. 



c 2 



mii: 



ALBION STREET CHAPEL, 

The origin of this congregation is recent; — -it 
has, however, assumed a permanent appearance, 
which requires a short account of it to be given in 
this work. 

A few years since, Mr. Furber, an intelligent 
tradesman, of the Unitarian denomination, removed 
from Bath to Cheltenham. Deeply feeling the 
want of the advantages he had been accustomed to 
enjoy, as a member of a congregation of worshipers 
of one God the Father, he resolved to do what he 
could to supply the deficiency. 

His first attempt was made in the month of 
August 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Furber, their eldest 
son, and two other persons then assembled in an 
upper room to commence public worship on Unita- 
rian principles. They had, for some time, only a 
morning service, but as their proceedings became 
known their number increased, and they were soon 
encouraged to occupy a much larger room on the 
ground floor and to conduct two services. 
^ ,Xhe duty of officiating devolved on Mr. Furber. 
He regularly read to the little flock such discourses 
as were most suitable to their circumstances. In 



CHELTENHAM. 



21 



order to strengthen their own faith and inform 
the minds of candid inquirers, he frequently select- 
ed the sermons of Dr. Priestley, Dr. Channing, 
Mr. Belsham, Mr. Aspland, Mr. Fox, and other 
eminent ministers. Again the hearers increased ; 
several highly intelligent individuals, permanently 
residing in Cheltenham, became members of the 
society; and a few influential visitors occasionally 
came and worshiped, and made useful presents of 
money and books. 

In the autumn of the year 1834, they were joined 
by a gentleman who had previously resided in 
Wales, and there rendered valuable literary aid 
to the cause of Unitarianism. They then deemed 
it advisable to engage, if possible, some large public 
room, and at length succeeded in securing for 
their use on the Lord's day, a room in Albion 
Street, occupied in the week by the members of the 
Mechanics' Institution. This is a modern building ; 
the situation is central and the entrance good ; there 
is an air of neatness and cheerfulness in the room 
which renders it unusually attractive. It was 
opened on Sunday March 22nd, 1835, by the Rev. 
G. B. Brock, of Gloucester.* Mr. Furber still 
officiates, and still has the pleasure of seeing himself 
rewarded for the efforts and sacrifices he has made 
by an increasing attendance. That he has made 
sacrifices will be easily believed when it is remem- 
bered that he is a tradesman, and that there are few 
places in which the advocacy of w^hat are called 

* Christian Reformer, N.S. Vol. ii. p. 284. 



22 



CHELTENHAM. 



Evangelical sentiments and the opposition to the 
progress of Unitarianism are more strenuous than 
at Cheltenham. 

The present number of worshipers (August, 1835) 
is, on the average, about fifty. One pleasing 
promise of stability and earnestness is the formation 
of a Sunday-school. Several Unitarian ministers 
of the district have occasionally assisted Mr. Fur- 
bur, and a plan has been proposed for rendering 
him their aid more frequently. It has been sug- 
gested that six or eight ministers might undertake 
to preach at Cheltenham, two Sundays each, during 
the season, and, by inviting the attention of the 
public on one part of the day to their views of 
divine truth, excite yet greater interest in the wel- 
fare of the congregation. In reply to this sugges- 
tion, Mr. Furber wrote to the friend who offered it, 
''your plan for affording us a certain supply of 
efficient ministers is highly desirable, and from the 
promises which have been made to us, as well as 
the past liberality of the supporters of what we 
deem Gospel truth in this place, I have no doubt 
we should succeed in providing the necessary funds 
for defraying the expenses." 

Should this plan be acted upon it will probably 
prepare the way for the erection of a chapel, and 
the settlement of a stated minister. 



CIRENCESTER 



"Cirencester is distant thirty-six miles eastward from Bristol, 
and thirty-three from Bath; thirty-four westward from Oxford, and 
seventeen south-east from Gloucester." 

" It stands on the river Cori, or Can, or Cor'm, which we now call 
the Churn, and takes its name from that river." 

" There is a great deal of travelling through Cirencester from the 
northern to the western parts of England, and from Bath and Bristol 
to London, through Oxford and Abingdon," 

"This is called an ancient city, and, according to the opinion of 
some persons, of so high antiquity as to have been built by the Britons 
before the Roman invasion." 

"The beautiful Roman pavements, the square stones with Pont. 
Max., and other inscriptions upon them, the Roman coins, rings, and 
intaglios which have been found here in such abundance, all bear 
testimony to the ancient grandeur of this place." 

"There have been three parish churches in Cirencester; one dedicated 
M St. Cecilia, which was entirely down in Leland's time ; the church 
of St. Lawrence is still standing, but now converted into small tene- 
ments. The third is the present parish church, dedicated to St. John 
the Evangelist. It is a large and beautiful building, consisting of the 
nave, two large aisles, and five chapels." — Rudder. 

Population in 1811,— 4540; in 1821,-4987; 1831,-5420, 



&/it OLD DISSENTING CHAPEL. 

This congregation was formed by Mr. Alexander 
Gregory^ who was ejected from the living of Ciren^' 
cester by the Act of Uniformity. He had a deep 
sense of the practical value of the principles for 
which he suffered; and, deeming it right to obey 
God rather than man, he continued preaching to 
his adherents after his ejectment. But at length 
the Five-Mile act drove him away ; and the people 
to whom he had ministered, were left to maintain 
their consistency without the aid of a pastor. 

It was not long, however, before they were again 
gathered together under a minister of their choice. 
There are traces of the existence of a Dissenting 
place of worship, with a stated ministry, at the earli- 
est period allowed by law. Tradition informs us that 
the Presbyterians were in possession of a house of 
prayer in 1688, when most of the inhabitants of 
the town were partizans of the Stuarts. We are 
further told, that, during a conflict which took place 
here, at this period, several persons with drawn 
swords were stationed near the meeting-house to 
prevent its demolition, and that two of the swords 



CIRENCESTER. 



25 



are now in possession of a member of the society.* 
It is certain that the Dissenters at Cirencester were 
exposed to considerable danger at the time of the 
Revohition. By the influence of the Duke of Beau- 
fort a vehement opposition was got up against the 
Prince of Orange; Lord Lovelace^ then on his way 
to join the Prince, was attacked by a party of the 
county militia, made prisoner, and carried to 
Gloucester goal ; blood was also shed, the captain 
of the troop and his son being killed on the spot. 

The successor of Mr. Gregory in the pastoral 
office was Mr. Beeby. All that I can learn con- 
cerning him is, that he spent here the few last years 
of his life. The next minister was Mr. Stephen 
Worth, the son of a minister who was ejected from 
Kilsby, in Northamptonshire. Mr. Worth was 
settled at Cirencester at the time of his father s 
death, which probably occurred at the close of the 
seventeenth century. He was succeeded by Mr. 
Keeling, w^ho removed hither from Salisbury. In 
his time the congregation amounted to six hun- 
dred. He died in 1724. J The congregation then 
elected Mr. Skinner Smith, who, after remaining 
three years, removed to Abingdon, and was followed 
at Cirencester by Mr. John Evans. To the latter, 
the society is indebted for the first regular entry of 
baptisms, which he commenced in 1730. There is 
one entry, as early as the year 1727, made by Mr. 
Tidcombe, who probably visited the congregation 

c5-blO^^ Communicated by a native of Cirencester. 

t Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 230. X Mr. Wilson' MSS. 



26 



CIRENCESTER. 



from Gloucester, during the interval of Mr. Ree- 
ling's removal and Mr. Smith s election. 

From this register we are enabled to infer the 
dates of the election and removal of the other min- 
isters, v^ith tolerable accuracy.* Mr. Evans, con- 
cerning whom I have not been able to obtain any 
further information^ remained here till 1742, when 
he died, and was succeeded by Mr. Parry. Of this 
gentleman and his successor, Mr. Crabb, short 
memoirs will be given. During their ministry, and 
particularly that of Mr. Parry, the congregation 
was numerous ; and among its members were several 
influential persons. On the removal of Mr. Crabb 
they were ministered to for a short time by Mr. 
Cogan, well known as the conductor for many years 
of a large classical school at Walthamstow, and 
the minister of the Presbyterian congregation in 
that place. Mr. Cogan removed in 1789. The 
next minister was Mr. Kings, who resigned the 
pastoral office about the year 1803, and died in 
1809, after a long and painful illness. He was 
interred in the burial-ground; the inscription over 
his grave is highly honourable to his memory. Mr. 
Kings was succeeded by Mr. Fry, who removed to 
Kidderminster in 1807, and still lives there ; Mr. 
Holt, the particulars of whose life will appear 
among our biographical notices ; Mr. Read and 
Mr. Dixon, who each remained only one year ; and, 
lastly, Mr. F. Horsfield, who was chosen in 1820, 

* I have here to acknowledge the khuhicss of Mr. Wiiliam Search, of 
Chencestcr. 



CIRENCESTER. 



27 



The present number of worshipers, though 
smaller than it was many years since, is not dis- 
couraging. I have no means of ascertaining how 
long Unitarian sentiments have been entertained by 
this society. All the ministers of whose writings 
or opinions we have any knowledge were Antitrini- 
tarians. The chapel is an ancient structure, large 
and commodious. The earliest date in the burial- 
ground is 1750. Among the monumental inscrip- 
tions of interest are those on the tombs of John 
Smith, Esq., formerly of Aylesbury, Bucks., and 
Thomas Smith, Esq., of Easton Grey, Wilts., both 
Justices of the Peace. The inscription on Mr. 
Kings' gravestone is as follows : 

Sacred to the memory of the Rev. John Kings, 
for many years a respected minister 
OF THIS Congregation; 
He held a distinguished rank among his brethren 

FOR his extensive LEARNING AND EXCELLENT UNDERSTANDING. 
He was possessed of an accurate judgment, the PUREST 

principles of integrity, a heart warmed by genuine piety, 

the most conciliatory and amiable manners. 
After a long and painful illness he died, most beloved 

AND lamented BY THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BEST, 

On February 4, 1809, 

IN THE 51st YEAR OF HIS AGE. 

On the opposite side of the stone is the following : 

Also in memory of 
Hannah, the wife and relict of the Rev. John Kings ; 
WHO died the 25th day of February, 1820, 
m an humble hope of a joyful resurrection at the 
last day. 



28 



GTR^iNCESTER, 



qf/ 'Alexander Gregory 1662—1665. 

Beeby 

^Stephen Worth 

T'^'ITOHN Keeling — 1726. 

Skinner Smith 1727 — 1730. 

-.i JoHN Evans 1730 — 1742. 

" Joshua Parry 1742 — 1776. 

Habakkuk Crabb 1776 — 1787. 

Eliezer CoGAN 1788 — 1789. 

John Kings 1790—1803. 

Richard Fry 1803—1807. 

AMES Holt ^.^^a-mel 808 — 18 1 7. 

John Read 1817—1818. 

Anthony Dixon 1819—1820. 

xFrederick Horsfield 1820. 



The Rev. Alexander Gregory was one of those ministers 
called the Country Triers. When the king's army besieged 
Cirencester, a cannon-ball fell upon the house where he lived, 
while he was at prayer. The house was much injured, but 
he was wonderfully preserved. When the town could hold out 
no longer, he, in company with a friend, tried to make an escape. 
One of the king's soldiers pursued them, and quickly killed 
his companion ; but though the soldier ran at him several times 
he avoided him, and received no harm. He was forced from 
his people, when the town was taken by the king's army, and 
when the war was at an end, settled at another place at some 
distance. On the earnest solicitation of his old friends at Ciren- 
cester, he returned to them, and continued till the coming out of 
the Act of Uniformity, though his benefice there was of conside- 
rably less value than the other. He was much solicited to con- 



CIRENCESTER. 



29 



form, by a person at that time in power, who signified to him 
that his so doing would be very acceptable to his majesty, who 
was inclined to prefer him, and w^ould resent his non-compliance. 
But Mr. Gregory could not satisfy his conscience, and drew up 
a paper, containing the reasons of his nonconformity, which he 
sent to the person who solicited him. In his last sermon in 
public he told his flock, that though he should be deprived of his 
benefice, which was all that he and his family had to subsist on, he 
would yet continue to minister to them as long as the govern- 
ment would suffer him. But at last the Five-Mile act forced 
him away, and he removed to Minchin-hampton, where he 
finished his course not long after. On taking leave of his friends, 
he told some with whom he was most intimate that he should 
see their faces no more ; and it happened accordingly. He was 
a very humble, serious, and affectionate preacher. His unwea- 
ried labours had great success. He kept up a weekly lecture 
every Tuesday ; and on Thursdays in the afternoon he catechized 
in his own house, taking great care not to discourage such as 
were bashful or had bad memories ; for whom he was so much 
concerned, that he would often follow them to their own houses, 
even the meanest in his parish, to give them private instruc- 
tion, in a plain and familiar way.* 

The Rev. Joshua Parry.— Scanty as my materials are, 1 
cannot refrain from giving a distinct memoir of Mr. Parry. He 
was so highly esteemed for his talents and character, and so 
long connected with the congregation at Cirencester, that even 
a short account of him will be acceptable to my readers. I 
have not been able to find his name among the various lists of 
students in Dissenting academies, nor can I ascertain whether 
he was settled as minister in any place prior to his invitation to 
Cirencester. Here he remained thirty-four years. The last 
entry of baptisms made by him was in the year 1776; and in 
the same year his remains were deposited in the burial-ground 

* Nonciori. Mem., Vol. i. p. SS^^Ji^^ Bulm za : 



30 



CIRENCESTER. 



belonging to the congregation of which he had been the faithful 
and beloved minister. There is neither a tomb nor an inscrip- 
tion, but the spot is indicated by a plain rough stone, which is 
well known to be the protector of "Mr. Parry's grave." He 
himself, however, left a lasting memorial of his liberal sentiments 
and his usefulness as a preacher, in seventeen sermons which 
were published after his death. They are described in the 
Monthly Review for 1783* as "very sensible and animated 
sermons, breathing a warm and affectionate spirit of rational 
piety and Christian benevolence." "Their original aim (says 
the author of the preface) was principally to impress the heart, 
in a warm and forcible manner, with truths of acknowledged 
practical importance," * * * "and it is sincerely hoped that they 
will not be perused in vain, although they must necessarily lose 
much of their energy, from being unaccompanied by that ner- 
vous oratory with which they were originally pronounced." 

Mr. Parry's society was highly valued by many who did not 
belong to his communion ; he was honoured, more particularly, 
for many years, with the friendship of Earl Bathurst, of Oakley 
Park, near Cirencester. He left two sons, one of whom Dr. C. 
H. Parry, was well kuown as an eminent physician at Bath, and 
long connected with the Presbyterian congregation in that city ; 
also a daughter, married to Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, Bart., both 
members for many years of the same society. Dr. Parry was 
named after Caleb Hillier, Esq., a zealous and liberal benefactor 
to the Dissenting interest at Cirencester. The present Sir 
Edward Parry, the arctic navigator, and Dr. Charles Parry, of 
Bath, are grandsons of the subject of this memoir. 



The Rev. Habakkuk Crabb was born at Wattisfield, in 
Suffolk, in the year 1750. Eminently pious and respectable 
was the character of his parents. His father was bred to no 
business, and lived on his paternal fortune till he had seven 



* Vol. Ixix. p. 444. 



CIRENCESTER. 



31 



children^ with the prospect of a still increasing family. Then, 
judging it his duty to provide, by some other means, for his 
numerous offspring, he farmed one of his own estates, and made 
malt for the London market. The family subsequently increased 
to fifteen, of whom the subject of this memoir was the youngest 
but one. He received his grammar learning under Mr. Walker, 
then minister of Framlingham, and was removed in 1766 to 
Daventry, where he pursued, under Dr. Ashworth, a complete 
course of studies for the Christian ministry. In such a seminary, 
and under such an instructor, a man of Mr. Crabb's disposition 
and habits could not fail to make considerable improvement.; 
So jealous was he of the least abuse of time, or irregularity of 
disposition, while he was a student, that he kept a memoran- 
dum-book, in which he noted down how each hour of the day 
was spent, and what effect either company, prayers, or sermons 
had on his temper. Indeed, he carried his diligence to excess. 
Having read with great delight the Life of Dr. Doddridge, he 
was ambitious of imitating that divine in his application to 
study ; not considering that a degree of exertion wliich in one 
case may be safe, shall in another prove pernicious. For 
months together, Mr. Crabb rose at four in the morning, and, 
without ever going abroad for exercise, pursued his studies till 
midnight. This brought on such nervous disorders, and so 
entirely shook the fabric of his constitution, that he not only 
became very ill for a season, but was more or less an invalid to 
the end of life.* 

In 1771, Mr. Crabb, having finished the usual course at 
Daventry, was invited to settle at Stowmarket. This invitation 
he afterwards accepted ; when it was first offered he could not 
embrace it, being under a prior engagement to accompany his 
friend and fellow -student, Thomas Fuller, Esq., on his travels 
into Scotland. That gentleman honoured Mr. Crabb with par- 

* See a memoir prefixed to a volume of Mr. Crabb's sermons, by the 
Rev. Hugh Woi-thington, Jun., for the benefit of the family of Mr. Crabb. 
The unusually long list of subscribers, not only for copies of the work but 
to sums of a considerable amount, is an honourable testimony to the worth 
both of Mr. Crabb and his friends. 



CIRENCESTER. 



ticular marks of favour to the day of his death, and continued 
his generosity to one of his children. After fulfilling the pas- 
toral charge at Stowmarket four years, various circumstances 
induced him to remove to Cirencester. When he had been 
there two years, he married Miss Norman, a member of his 
former congregation. As the cares of a family soon devolved 
upon him, he was persuaded to undertake the board and educa- 
tion of two young gentlemen of considerable fortune ; but, what 
is no uncommon case, by this step he rather lessened than aug- 
mented his income. In 1787, with a view of better providing 
for his children, Mr. Crabb accepted the proposal of his brother- 
in-law, Mr. Fenner, to assist him in his school and pulpit at 
Devizes. But his residence there was also short ; in January 
1789 he had a call from Wattisfield, the place of his nativity, 
which had recently become vacant by the death of the venera- 
ble Mr. Harmer. Here Mr. Crabb's expectations were again 
disappointed. Though he was highly esteemed by many mem- 
bers of the society, yet, to others, he could not give satisfaction 
because he preferred scriptural language to human phrases, on 
points peculiar to revelation. He therefore prudently retired, 
and found among a serious, enlightened, and affectionate cojQt-». 
gregation at Royston, an asylum adapted to his wishes, where 
he continued till his death. He first preached as a probationer 
among them, July 4th, 1790. But in little more than four 
years the end of his labours approached. He died on the 25th 
of December 1794. 

During his short illness, as long as the state of his intellects 
admitted, he discovered a mind imbued with piety, gratitude 
and resignation. He left behind him seven orphans — the 
youngest but two years of age ; at the birth of this child he 
lost his beloved wife. The bereavement of such a partner, and 
concern for his motherless children, weighed heavily on his 
spirits, and accelerated his end. As a Christian, Mr. Crabb 
remarkably verified the description of true religion by the Apostle 
James, — " The wisdom which is from above is first piu-e, then 
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good 



ClRfiNCESTEK 



33 



without partiality and without hypocrisy." As a pastor, 
he equally respected all the conditions of his flock ; though his 
manners and tastes fitted him for the genteelest circles, yet he 
never neglected the poor and afflicted ; youth and age, prosperity 
and adversity, regularly shared his visits and services. As a 
preacher, without pretending to eloquence, he universally gained 
the attention of his hearers ; his prayers and discourses had a 
perspicuous neatness, as remote from vulgarity on the one hand 
as from artificial labour on the other. 

In the churchyard at Royston, on a gravestone erected to his 
memory by the congregation, are inscribed the following lines : 

**Hush'd is the storm of life's tempestuous day. 
Thy heart no more by mortal anguish torn, 
Serene reposes with its kindred clay, 
Till,wak'd from death, thou hail'st the eternal morn/' 

The Rev. James Holt was born at Stepney, in the year 
1756. His parents were in humble life, but he had a notion 
that he was of the same family as Lord Chief Justice Holt. In 
1773, he was apprenticed to an engraver, and made such pro- 
ficiency, that he earned six guineas per week before the expira- 
tion of his apprenticeship. Part of his earnings being his own, 
he found himself, at this period, in the possession of sixty gui- 
neas. He had been brought up in the Church of England, but 
was now converted to Calvinistic Methodism. Yet though he 
attended the various popular preachers of this class, he after- 
wards became more sober in his views, and united himself with 
the Independent Church in Hare Court, Aldersgate Street. By 
the advice of his pastor, his attention was turned towards the 
ministry, and under his patronage he entered, in 1780, the 
Academy at Homerton, with the savings of his industry in his 
pocket. He continued here seven years under the tuition of 
Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Daniel Fisher, Dr. Henry Mayo, and Mr. 
(afterwards Dr.) Benjamin Davies. On leaving the Academy, 
which he did with very satisfactory testimonials, he preached 

D 



34 



CIRENCESTER. 



for a short time at Bere, in Dorsetshire. He was then for a few 
months at Bury Street, St. Mary Axe, London, where Dr. 
Savage, and before him Dr. Watts, had been minister. In 1789, 
he was at Weymouth, as an assistant to Mr. Wilkins ; and after 
short intervals we find him at Martock, in Somersetshire ; Crea- 
ton, in Northamptonshire ; and Daventry. His perceptible 
change of opinions might be one cause of these frequent remo- 
vals. After leaving Daventry he sojourned with Presbyterian 
congregations at Plymouth Dock and Dartmouth. At Dart- 
mouth he continued five years on a salary of thirty-five pounds 
per annum, out of which, so economical were his habits, he con- 
trived to save something. About the year 1799, he removed to 
■take charge of the congregation at Crediton, where also he re- 
mained five years. Within this period he married Miss Burton^ 
of Dartmouth, who, dying suddenly, in 1806, left him property 
equal to his wants for the remainder of his life. After this event 
Jie resided for some time near London, but was soon induced to 
accept the pastorship of the congregation at Cirencester. In 
; tliis, his last ministerial connexion, he continued ten years ; at 
the expiration of which he retired on account of his infirmities 
to Hackney, where he closed his life Jan. 30th, 1828, aged 72. 
He desired it to be recorded on his tombstone, in the Gravel- 
Pit burial-ground. Hackney, that 

*< After ten years' earnest, incessant inquiry, he became 
A DECIDED Unitarian, and continued so invariably until 
death.'' 

Under these words are the following : — 

"His Executors consider it due to his piously-charitable 
mind to record also, that he has bequeathed the residue 

OF A MODERATE ESTATE FOR THE EDUCATION OF StUDENTS FOR THE 

Unitarian Ministry."* 

» Christ. Ref., O. S., Vol. xiv. p. 125. 



MARSHFIELD. 



- "This jiarish constitutes the upper division of the hundred of 
Thombiify. It lies seven miles north-eastward from Bath, seven 
south-eastward from Chipping-Sodbury, twelve and a half east from 
Bristol^ thirty-five south from Gloucester, and one hundred and three 
west from London. It is situated on high ground, with a fine healthy 
air, and bounded on the south by a brdok which divides it from Somer- 
setshire. 

"The towii of Marshfield stands riear the middle bf the parish, and 
consists chiefly of one street, near a mile long, through which a turn- 
pike road leads from London to Bristol. The business of making malt 
to supply the cities of Bath and Bristol was formerly very great here 
for which the town is conveniently situated in a corn country ; and 
though it has been for some time declining, yet it is still pretty consi- 
derable."— Rudder. 



ii 2 



-A Sir 



OLD MEETING HOUSE. 



About the year 1680, Mr. George Seal, who had 
heen ejected from a parish in South Wales, and who 
had also been a schoolmaster at Cardiff, became 
pastor of a congregation at Marshfield. * In 1699 
the society is said to have been denominated Inde- 
pendent, and to have received a certificate, by that 
name, permitting them to worship God in the house 
of Charles Eudder. -j- The trust-deeds of later dates 
describe the congregation as Independent or Pres- 
byterian; the great object, for many years, being to 
keep up a distinction between Conformists and Non- 
conformists, rather than between two classes of 
Dissenters. 

Mr. Seal's ministry was long and successful. He 
was at Marshtield in 1715, with three hundred 
hearers. J Whether Mr. Rudder's house, converted 
into a place of worship, was that in which they con- 
tinued to meet, or whether they erected another, 
does not appear. The society was sufficiently nu- 
merous to have two ministers during the early part 
of the last century ; the names of Paterson, Load, 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 682. f Mr. Wilson's MSS. 

X Manchester Socinian Controversy, p. 130, 



MARSHFIELD. 



37 



and Hort, are found in connexion with Mr. Seal's. 
Mr. Hort conformed and became Archbishop of 
Tuam. We have also the name of Angel Shapland, 
who died at Marshfield, in 1748, aged 57 ; a stone 
was raised to his memory in the parish churchyard. 

The next minister was Mr. Evan Thomas, whose 
sentiments appear to have been heterodox.* During 
his ministry, the present meeting-house was built by 
subscription; but not on the site of the old one. 
The following is the inscription on the foundation 
stone.f 

Marshfield, October 16, 1752. 
May THE BLESSING OF God 
AND His everlasting protection 
descend and rest on this foundation stone ! 
And may it herein share but the common fate 
OF the whole superstructure, 
designed to be raised thereon 1 
A superstructure intended, 

NOT FOR SCHISMATICAL OR HERETICAL SEPARATION, 
NOT AS A SOURCE OF BIGOTRY AND SUPERSTITION, 
BUT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PRINCIPLES 
QUITE THE REVERSE : 
A SUPERSTRUCTURE 
BUILT FOR THE UPHOLDING OF NO UNCHRISTIAN FACTION, 
IN OPPOSITION TO NO CHRISTIAN COMMAND, 
IN DEFIANCE OF NO PrOTESTANT ROYAL AUTHORITY, 
BUT FOR PROMOTING PURE RELIGION, 
THE GLORY OF GoD, 
AND THE HAPPINESS OF MANKIND; 
AND ALSO, 
AS A WORTHY EFFECT 



* English Presbyterian, p. 51. 

t Christian Reformer, O. S.^ Vol. xiii. 172., 



3B 



MARSHFIELD. 



i . OF THAT GLORIOUS NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 
BY WHICH WE ENJOY 

oun Christian Freedom and Liberty of Conscience. 
For these, and only for these 
substantial reasons, 

rest here ! 
o auspicious stone ; 
firm as the rock from whence thou wast taken, 
till time shall be no more ! 

Built in the reign of our 
GRACIOUS Sovereign 
George II., 

AND IN THE YEAR OF OUR LoRD, 

1752. 



W. OLAND. 



The spirit of this inscription indicates that this 
place of worship was erected by persons whose sen- 
timents were those of the Unitarians^ rather than 
the Trinitarians^ of the present day. However 
anxious the latter are for the promotion of Civil 
and Religious Liberty^ they are more anxious to 
diffuse what they deem the peculiar doctrines of the 
gospeL If the founders of this '"superstructure" 
had been of the same way of thinking as the modern 
Independents, they would undoubtedly have prefer- 
red recording their devotion, not merely to pure 
religion, the glory of God, and the happiness of 
mankind, but to the doctrines of the Fall, the 
Atonement, and the Trinity. I say thus much, as 
the right of the present possessors of the chapel at 
Marshfield has been often publicly questioned on 



MARSHFIELD. 



the supposition that the design of its founders was 
widely different from that of the present possessors * 
All the successors of Mr. Thomas have been Unita- 
rians ; some may have believed in the pre-existence 
of Christ but certainly none paid their adorations 
to the Trinity. These are historical facts ; and they 
ought to have all the weight to which they are 
entitled. 

Towards the close of the last century the congre- 
gation declined. At the death of Mr. David Evans, 
in 1817, it was greatly reduced. Since that period 
no minister has remained longer than three or four 
years. The next minister was Mr. John Evans of 
Bristol, author of The Ponderer," A History of 
Bristol," and other works. He united the duties of 
a schoolmaster with those of a minister ; but was, 
I believe, engaged at no other place than Marshfield 
in the latter capacity. Mr. John Evans was succeed- 
ed by Mr. Gr. P. Hinton, from Crediton, who after- 
wards devoted himself to the legal profession, of 
which he is now a member, at Bristol. •]- The so- 
ciety was greatly revived in 1825, soon after the 
formation of a Unitarian Missionary Association 
for Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire. 
One of the first objects of the committee was to 
provide regular religious services at Marshfield, and 
accordingly Mr. Henry Hawkes, a Glasgow student, 
was engaged to supply during his recess. J He was 



* See a paper in the Evangelical Magazine, Vol. xli. p. 447. 

t Much of the information in this sketch was furnished by Mr. Hinton. 

X C. R., O. S., Vol. xii. p. 33. 



40 



MARSHFIELD. 



succeeded by Mr. Samuel Martin, who had been 
labouring with much zeal and success in the coun- 
ties of Devon and Cornwall, The efforts of these 
ministers, under the Divine blessing, restored the 
congregation to health and vigour ; its numbers were 
much greater than they had been for many years, 
and several useful institutions were formed with 
encouraging prospects. But Mr. Martin w^as called 
to a larger sphere ; the congregation again became 
destitute of a settled minister, and, though zealous 
laymen supplied them for several years, the flock 
wandered to other folds, one by one, until very few 
remained. The present minister is Mr. Thomas 
Adams ; he is obliged to live at Bristol, but preaches 
at Marshfield every Lord's-day ; his attempts to re- 
vive the society have been in some degree suc- 
cessful. 

Connected with the chapel is an interesting burial 
ground; the following inscriptions are found on 
monuments in the interior of the building. 

Sacred to the memory of the 
Rev. Evan Thomas, 
Minister of the Gospel in this place; 
Who both in preaching and practice 
WAS a steady friend 
and real ornament 

TO THE cause OF LIBERTY AND RATIONAL RELIGION. 

Having endured a tedious and severe illness 

WITH A resignation AND FORTITUDE 
WHICH ChRISTIANTY ALONE COULD INSPIRE, 

AND INTEGRITY ALONE EXERT, 
HE OBTAINED HIS RELEASE JuNE 14th, 1/62, 
AGED 55 YEARS. 



MARSHFIEtp. 



41 



In memory of 
The Rev. David Evans, 
Minister of this place upwards of forty years : 
His life was spent in 

THE acquisition OF LIBERAL AND USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 

and in the duties of religion. 
He was a firm believer in Christianity from conviction, 
and in him civil and religious liberty lost a most 
zealous and enlightened advocate. 
He departed this life June 14th, 1817, 

IN the 67th YEAR OF HIS AGE. 



George Seal 1680 — 

Paterson, Load, and Hort , . . 

Angel Shapland — 1748, 

Evan Thomas 1748—1762. 

Richard Davis 1762—1765. 

William Hazlitt, M.A 1765 — 1770. 

David Evans 1770—1791. 

William Jillard Hort 1791 — 1796. 

David Evans (returned) 1796 — 1815. 

John Evans 1816—1820. 

George Pullin Hinton 1820—1824. 

Samuel Martin , 1826—1827. 

Thomas Adams 1833. 



The Rev. John Hort, D.D., was probably descended from 
Nonconformist parents ; he was educated in a Dissenting aca- 
demy, in London, between the years 1690 and 1695, under the 
direction of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, at that time minister of 



42 



MARSHFIELD. 



the Independent congregation at Haberdashers' Hall.* One of 
his fellow- students was Dr. Isaac Watts, who said of him that 
he was the first genius in the academy, and another was Mr. 
Samuel Say, also well known in the religious and literary world. 

After his academical studies were finished, he resided some 
time as Chaplain with John Hampden, Esq., Member of Parlia- 
ment for Bucks ; and afterwards settled as a Dissenting minister, 
at Marshfield. The time of his conformity to the Church of 
England is not ascertained, though it is evident, that he was a 
minister of it so early as 1708, for in that year he published 
a sermon preached at the Archdeacon's visitation at Aylesbury. 
In the preceding year, he had printed a Thanksgiving Sermon 
on our Successes, from Ps. cxlix. 6 — 8. There is a tradition 
in the family, that he had so greatly recommended himself to 
the court by his zeal and services in support of the Hanover 
succession, that as he scrupled re-ordination it was dispensed 
with, and the first preferment bestowed on him was that of 
a bishopric in Ireland. He went into that kingdom as chaplain 
to the Lord Lieutenant. He was consecrated bishop of Ferns 
and Leighlin, in 1721, was translated to Kilmore and Ardagh, 
in 1727, and preferred to the archiepiscopal see of Tuam, 
in 1742, with the united bishopric of Enaghdoen, and like- 
wise with liberty to retain his other bishopric at Ardagh. He 
died in 1751, at a very advanced age. He published in 17o8, 
at Dublin, a volume of sermons, in 8vo. These were reprinted, 
in London, in 1757, with the addition of the Visitation Sermon 
mentioned before. In this volume is a sermon preached in the 
Castle of Dublin, before the Duke of Bolton, the Lord Lieutenant 
of Ireland, after the suppression of the Preston rebellion. He 
also published " Instructions to the Clergy of the Diocese of 
Tuam, at the Primary Visitation, July 8th, 1742." This, after 
his death, was reprinted in London, with the approbation and 
consent of Dr. Hort, Canon of Windsor. In the preface to 
the volume of sermons, we learn that for many years previous 

* Southey's Life of Watts, prefixed to a neat edition of the Lyric 
Poems, forming the ninth volume of the Sacred Classics, 1834. 



MARSHFIELD. 



43 



to its appearance from the press, the author had been disabled 
from preaching by an over-strain of the voice in the pulpit, at 
a time when he had a cold, with a hoarseness, upon him. The 
providence of God, he sajs, having taken from him the power 
of discharging that part of his episcopal office which consisted 
in preaching, he thought it incumbent upon him to convey his 
thoughts and instructions from the press. The solemn promise 
that he made at his consecration, " to exercise himself in the 
Holy Scriptures, so as to be able by them to teach and exhort 
by wholesome doctrines," was no small motive to the under- 
taking. It appears, that he kept up an epistolary correspondence 
with his "old friend," as he called him, and fellow- student. Dr. 
Watts, to the closing period of the life of each. Dr. Gibbons, 
in the life of the latter, has preserved a letter of the Archbishop 
of Tuam to him, dated Dublin, December 15, 1743, which ac- 
companied the charge to his clergy. The strain of the letter is 
cheerful and pious, expressive of vivacity of mind, and a devo- 
tional temper. A quotation from it may afford a specimen of 
the disposition and character of the writer. " I bless God, I 
enjoy good health, which enables me to go through much busi- 
ness ; but I have for many years been going down the hill, and 
if the doctrine of gravitation takes place in the life of man, the 
motion must accelerate as I come nearer the bottom. Your 
case is the same, though more aggravated by distempers. God 
grant we may be useful while we live, and may run clear and 
with unclouded minds till we come to the very dregs." * 



The Rev. William Hazlitt, M. A., was born at Shaun 
Hill, near Tipperary, 1737. At about the age of 19 he went 
to Glasgow University — remained there five years and obtained 
the degree of Master of Arts. Though brought up in orthodox 
principles, at the time of his quitting the University he was an 
Unitarian. His first settlement was with the Presbyterian con- 



* Monthly Magazine, Vol. xv. p. 144. 



44 



MARSHFIELD. 



gregation at Wisbeach, in 1764, where he remained two years. 
Here he was married to Miss Loftns of that town, by whom he 
had seven children, three of whom with their mother survived 
him. From Wisbeach he removed to Marshfield, and thence to 
Maidstone, where he remained nearly ten years, during which 
time he enjoyed the acquaintance of several eminent men, and 
frequently met Dr. Franklin. From Maidstone he removed, in 
1 780, to the charge of a congregation at Bandon, in the county 
of Cork, where he continued three years. In this place he ex- 
erted himself in behalf of the American prisoners confined at 
Kinsale, and his manly exposure, in the public prints, of the 
cruelties exercised towards them by the soldiery, considerably 
improved their condition. On the close of the war with America, 
he removed from Bandon, to New York, with his wife and 
family, where he arrived in May, ] 783, and soon proceeded to 
Philadelphia. On his way to that city, the Assembly of the 
States General for New Jersey, then sitting at Burlington, sent 
a deputation to invite him to preach before them, which he did. 
At Philadelphia he stayed fifteen months, and besides preaching 
occasionally at various places of worship there, he delivered, 
during the winter, in the college, a course of lectures on the 
Evidences of Christianity, which were exceedingly well received. 
From Philadelphia he went, by invitation, to preach to a con- 
gregation at Boston ; but a report of his heterodox principles 
arriving before him prevented a settlement among them. Mr. 
Hazlitt's visit to this town was not however in vain ; for in a 
short time he was chiefly instrumental in forming the first Uni- 
tarian Church at Boston. Here the University offered to confer 
on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, which he declined. 
He also published various tracts in support of Unitarian princi- 
ples ; and having remained here four years, preparing the way 
for the subsequent exertions of Dr. Priestley, whose acquiant- 
ance he enjoyed, he returned with his family to England, and 
became pastor of the Presbyterian congregation at Wem, in 
Shropshire. In this place he resided upwards of twenty-six 
years, and published three volumes of sermous, which had a 



MARSHFIELD. 



45 



rapid and extensive sale. In 1813 he retired from the ministry ; 
and lived some time at Addlestone, in Surrj, afterwards at Bath, 
and finally at Crediton, where, after a residence of ten months, 
he died. His remains were interred in the parish burial ground 
of the latter place, and on the following Sunday, the event was 
improved in the Unitarian chapel by the Rev. G. P. Hinton. 
The memoir in the Monthly Repository, from which these par- 
ticulars are taken, concludes with the following extract from the 
Political Essays of William Hazlitt, the highly gifted son of the 
venerable minister ; in which it is supposed the father was par- 
ticularly alluded to : _ tifxa Maani^i 
u have known some such in happier days, who had been 
brought up and lived from youth to age in the one constant 
belief of God and of his Christ, and who thought all other things 
but dross, compared with the glory hereafter to be revealed. 
Their youthful hopes and vanity had been mortified in them, 
even in their boyish days, by the neglect and supercilious regards ' 
of the world ; and they turned to look into their own minds for 
something else to build their hopes and confidence upon. They 
were true priests. They set up an image in their own minds, it 
was truth : they worshiped an idol there, it was justice. They 
looked on man as their brother, and only bowed the knee to 
the Highest. Separate from the world, they walked humbly 
with their God, and lived, in thought, with those who had borne , 
testimony of a good conscience — with the spirits of just men in 
all ages. They saw Moses when he slew the Egyptian, and the 
prophets who overturned the brazen images, and those who 
were stoned and sawn asunder. They were with Daniel in the 
lions' den, and with the three children who passed through the 
fiery furnace — Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego. They did 
not crucify Christ twice over, or deny him in their hearts, with 
St. Peter : the Book of Martyrs was open to them ; they read 
the story of William Tell, of John Huss, and Jerome of 
Prague, and the old one-eyed Zisca ; they had Neal's History 
of the Puritans by heart, and Calamy's account of the Two 
Thousand Ejected Ministers, and gave it to their children to 



46 



MARSHFIELD. 



read, with the pictures of the polemical Baxter, the silver- 
tongued Bancroft, the mild-looking Calamy, and old honest 
Howe. The J believed in Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel 
History ; they were deep read in the works of the Fratres 
Poloni, Pripscovius, Crellius, Cracovius, who sought out truth 
in texts of scripture, and grew blind over Hebrew points ; their 
aspiration after liberty was a sigh uttered from the towers, 
' time-rent,' of the Holy Inquisition — and their zeal for religious 
toleration was kindled at the fires of Smithfield. Their sym- 
pathy was not with the oppressors, but the oppressed. They 
cherished in their thoughts — and wished to transmit to their 
posterity — those rights and privileges, for asserting which their 
ancestors had bled on scaffolds, or had pined in dungeons, or in 
foreign climes. Their creed, too, was glory to God, peace on 
earth, good will to man. This creed, since profaned and ren- 
dered vile, they kept fast through good report and evil report. 
This belief they had that looks at something out of itsfelf, fixed 
as the stars, deep as the firmament ; that makes of its own heart 
an altar to truth, a place of worship for what is right, at which 
it does reverence with praise and prayer like a holy thing, apart 
and content — that feels that thiB greatest Being in the universe 
is always near it, and that all things work together for the good 
of his creatures, under his guiding hand. This covenant they 
kept as the stars keep their courses — this principle they stuck 
by, as it sticks by them to the last. It grew with their growth, 
it does not wither in their decay. It lives when the almond 
tree flourishes, and is not bowed down with the tottering knees. 
It glimmers with the last feeble eyesight, smiles in the faded 
cheek like infancy, and lights a path before them to the grave," 



PRENCHAY 



' Frenchay (or more properly FroomsHaw) is a pretty Villag-e, where 
many families have good houses with gardens and plantations. 

It is situated about four miles from Bristol in the parish of Winter; 
bourn, which is bounded on the south by the river Froom. 



FRENCHAY. 

• Srfl 1o TO W- 

The chapel at Frenchay is a small square buildi-^ 
ing, fronting the common on the skirts of whicK^. 
the village is situated. It has the unusual yet pic- 
turesque appendage of a bell, which, for many year^^ 
has regularly summoned the worshipers to the ^ 
morning and evening sacrifice. A pretty burial';* 
ground surrounds this humble house of prayer, oii^^ 
three sides, and contains a great number of graves.; 
There are several monuments ; some of the inscrip-^'' 
tions have been erased by time, but others remain 
to awaken respect for the memories of the dead and 
anxiety for the improvement of the living. 

" Their names, their years spelt by the unlettered must, . _ n 

The place of fame and elegy supply : r,-r -vrl 
And many a holy text around she strews, 
That teach the rustic moralist to die." 

The origin and exact age of the society at Fren- ■ 
chay are involved in uncertainty. My earliest in- 
formation is obtained from the deed by which the 
land, occupied by the meeting-house and burial 
ground, was conveyed to the congregation. This 
document was drawn up in the year 1691 and con- 
tains the names of several of the most considerable 



FRENCHAY, 



49 



merchants of Bristol, as trustees. Tlie meetings 
house was probably built about this time ; but I 
cannot find the name of a minister connected with 
an earlier date than 1715, when the Rev. Joseph 
Tyler is said to have been at Frenchay with two 
hundred hearers. From a subsequent deed it 
appears that this gentleman was pastor of the con- 
gregation, and associated as a trustee with the 
minister of the Lewin's Mead Chapeb and several 
Bristol merchants, in the year 1721. Tradition 
represents him as having continued in the pastoral 
office many years afterwards, highly respected and 
beloved ; some persons have a strong impression 
that he filled it a very long time ; nor is it improba- 
ble that he was here from the time of the erection 
of the chapel till 1741, in connexion with which 
year another name appears. * 

Mr. Tyler appears to have been succeeded by 
Mr. Joshua Griffith, v/ho was, by all accounts, at 
Frenchay from 1741 till his death in 1760. The 
next minister was Mr. David Lewis, who removed 
from Ashwick, some memoranda say in the latter 
year, and others tv/o or three years earlier. He is 
mentioned, by a correspondent in the Monthly Re- 
pository for June 1810, -j- as having died at Frenchay 
thirty-eight years previously, which shews that he 
w^as there till the year 1772, This circumstance is 
noticed (and it is the only one I have met with in 

■ .. 

* For much of the information in this sketch I am indebted to the 
friendly researches of Mr. Thornas Bowring, of Bristol, 
t Vol. v., p. 401. 

E 



50 



FRENCHAY. 



reference to Mr. Lewis, except that of his removal 
from Ashwick) in connexion with an amusing but 
unimportant anecdote, related by him, of Mr. 
Samuel Jones and a pupil of that gentleman, — -Mr.^ 
afterwards Archbishop, Seeker. 

On the death of Mr. Lewis, the congregation made 
choice of Mr. Samuel Thomas, from Dulverton, a 
minister who still lives in the remembrance of the 
elder hearers. He is described as a fine specimen 
of the ancient Presbyterian school — a dignified, yet 
earnest and affectionate preacher — a true pastor of 
his flock — a zealous asserter of Christian liberty — 
pious, learned, and indefatigable. In his religious 
sentiments he was probably an Arian. For many 
years Mr. Thomas kept a large and respectable 
school at Hambrook, a small village near Frenchay, 
where he had the care of two sons of Dr. Priestley, 
probably, at the time of that great and good man's 
residence at Bowood. There are some living who 
have a recollection of the Doctor's preaching once 
or twice at Frenchay. Mr. Thomas died among 
his people, in 1803, full of years and honom- mp^Tf 

The subsequent ministers have all remained a 
much shorter period, and, with the exception of the 
present pastor, removed to other places. After a 
short interval, Mr. Thomas was succeeded by Mr. 
Jillard Hort, who, in the year 1815, accepted an 
invitation to Cork, where he is still the minister of 
a large congregation. For the next nine years the 
little flock at Frenchay were faithfully served by 
Mr. Michael Maurice; of whom, as of Mr. Hort, 



FRENCHAY. 



51 



and the other pastors of more recent times, distant 
be the day when more may be said ! In 1824, on 
Mr. Maurice's resignation, Mr. Henry Clarke suc- 
ceeded him, and remained till the beginning of 
1827, when he resumed his more active duties as an 
Unitarian missionary, which he is now discharging 
in connexion with his office of minister of a pros- 
perous congregation at Dundee. Next came Mr. 
Henry Howse, of Bath. This gentleman had re- 
ceived part of his education at York, as a lay-student ; 
when he went to Frenchay he was Secretary to the 
Somerset, Gloucester, and Wilts Unitarian Associa- 
MoB.;; In this situation he devoted himself, about 
eighteen months, to pulpit and pastoral labours, 
solely for the purpose of promoting the chief object 
of that Association — ^the revival of drooping congre- 
gations. Mr. Howse was followed by Mr. John 
Forsbrey, — also one of those who, though not edu- 
cated for the ministry, are desirous of devoting their 
talents to the promotion of truth. In the year 1830, 
the society elected Mr. Tingcombe, who had for 
many years been the minister of the Unitarian con- 
gregation at Bridgwater. 

The state of the congregation at different periods 
of its history cannot be exactly ascertained. During 
the greater part of the last century the number of 
hearers probably varied from two to three hundred. 
The society has always included several highly re- 
spectable families connected by trade with the city 
of Bristol, and residing near the village of Frenchay. 

E 2 



52 



FRENCHAY. 



Until within a comparatively recent period there 
was no other place of worship in the neighbourhood. 
The first that appeared in addition was a Friends' 
meeting-house; and still more lately a handsome 
church has been built immediately opposite. In 
the morning of the Lord's Day the sound of the 
ancient bell is nearly drowned by the authoritative 
tone of its modern neighbour, but in the evening it 
is heard alone through the peaceful village. The 
erection of the church doubtless tended to reduce 
,the already much-diminished number of the original 
society, but there are still several circumstances 
^ which inspire a hope of its revival. Humble as is 
the structure in which the worshipers of One God 
the Father here meet, they have yet many reasons 
for associating it with their own most precious 
recollections, and devoutly trusting that it will be 
to many as it has been to them and their fathers — 
the house of God and the gate of Heaven ! 



il^misters. 



Joseph Tyler 1691—1711. 

Joshua Griffith 1741 — 1760. 

David Lewis 1760 — 1772. 

Samuel Thomas 1772—1803. 

JiLLARD HORT 1804—1815. 

Michael Maurice 1815 — 1824. 

Henry Clarke 1824—1827. 

Henry Edward Howse 1827 — 1828. 

John Forsbrey 1828 — 1829. 

John Tingcombe 1829. 



CALNE. 
BRADFORD. 
TROWBRIDGE. 
WARMINSTER, 



CALNE 



** Calne is a market and borough-town of great antiquity, situated 
near the centre of the hundred to which it gives name, at the distance 
of eighty-seven miles west by south from London, and thirty miles 
north-north-east from Salisbury." 

** Calne within the last twenty years has been greatly improved in 
the appearance of its houses, and the cleanliness of its streets. It is 
watered by the small river Marian, which runs through the centre of 
the town, and drives several fulling and grist mills. The market- 
house and town-hall is a commodious building, as is also the free- 
school." — Beauties of England and Wales. 

Population in 1811,-3581 ; in 1821,-4612; in 1831,-4876. 



CALNE. 

This parish is in the list of those which lost 
their ministers on the passing of the Act of Uni- 
formity. The sufferer here was Mr. Thomas Jones, 
who may be regarded as the founder of the Presby- 
terian congregation, though we have no particulars 
of his subsequent life and labours. 

That a society of Nonconformists existed at Calne 
at an early period, is evident from the biographi- 
cal notices by Dr. Calamy and Mr. Palmer. Mr. 
Robert Rowswell, ejected from the parish of Martin, 
in Wiltshire, and Mr. Nathaniel Webb, who lost 
his living at Yatesbury,* in the same county, are 
both said to have preached here occasionally. 

The first settled minister of whom we have any 
account is Mr. Samuel Bourn, the father of an emi- 
nent minister of the same name at Birmingham and 
Cosely. He was sent down to Calne in the year 
1679, by the influence of Dr. Annesley, the ejected 
vicar of St. Giles's, Cripplegate, and the maternal 
grandfather of Mr. John Wesley. He laboured 
here, with much diligence and success, sixteen 
years, during which he declined invitations to Bath, 



CALNE. 



57 



Durham, and Lincoln ; at the end of that period he 
removed to Bolton to succeed his uncle, the Eev. 
Mr. Seddon, who recommended him to his flock in 
his last moments.* 

It was probably soon after Mr. Bourn's removal 
that the present chapel was erected. No document 
of any kind remains by which the circumstances 
connected with this event can be traced^ nor have 
we any means of ascertaining the precise time 
when the congregation appointed a successor to the 
highly-valued pastor who had at length been in- 
duced to leave them. They appear to have been 
some time destitute. We are told that, ^'on hearing 
Mr. Bourn had received unhandsome treatment in 
his new^ situation, they invited him to return to them, 
with respectful offers of an enlarged maintenance. 
But he waived the proposal and chose to continue 
at Bolton, where by his great integrity and inoffen- 
sive behaviour he conciliated the esteem and respect 
of all; and when he died had not one enemy." f 

The next name on my list of the pastors of the 
Presbyterian church at Calne, is John Melhuish. 
He was there in 1715, with two hundred and fifty 
hearers ; and as we do not find that he was 
connected with any other congregation, we may 
infer that he remained there a long time. But we 
have no other name until the year 1772, an inter- 
val, it may be presumed, rather too long for Mr. 
Melhuish's powers, especially as there is reason to 
suppose he was settled at Calne prior to the year 



* Toulmin's Life of Bourn, p. 3. 



t Ibid. p. 4. 



58 



CALNE. 



1715. In 1772 Mr. Williams was the pastor; his 
religious opinions were liberal. He removed to the 
congregation at Bradford in 1776. The people 
here next elected Mr. John Davis, of Ilfracombe: 
he was educated at Carmarthen; his sentiments 
were decidedly Unitarian, and he was the respected 
pastor of the church till his death — the long period 
of fifty-two years. Both Mr. Williams and Mr. 
Davis had the privilege of enjoying the society and 
assistance of Dr. Priestley; whose engagement with 
the Earl of Shelburne commenced in 1773 and ter- 
minated in 1780. He frequently preached in the 
Presbyterian meeting-house at Calne, and, by his 
pulpit services and private conversations, did much 
to confirm the sentiments then entertained both by 
ministers and people.* , 

* One of the most prominent traits in the character of Dr. Priestley was 
his devotion to rehgious pursuits. Many circumstances illustrate this, 
besides his identifying himself so closely with the humble Dissenting so- 
ciety at Calne. Alluding to the company into which he was thrown, while 
staying with Lord Shelburne at Paris, he says — "As I chose on all occa- 
sions to appear as a Christian, I was told by some of them that I was the 
only person they had ever met with, of whose understanding they had any 
opinion, who professed to believe Christianity. But on interrogating them 
on the subject, I soon found that they had given no proper attention to it, 
and did not really know what Christianity was. This was also the case 
with a great part of the company that I saw at Lord Shelburne's. But 
I hope that my always avowing myself to be a Christian, and holding 
myself ready on all occasions to defend the genuine principles of it, was 
not without its use. Having conversed so much with unbelievers, at home 
and abroad, I thought I should be able to combat their jjrejudices with 
some advantage ; and with this view I wrote, while I was with Lord Shel- 
burne, the first part of my " Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever," in 
proof of the doctrines of a God and a Providence, and to this I have added, 
during my residence at Birmingham, a second part, in defence of the Evi- 
dences of Christianity. The first part being replied to by a person who 
called himself Mr. Hammon, I wrote a reply to his piece which has hitherto 
remained unanswered. T am happy to find that this work of mine has 



GALNE. 



59 



Towards the close of Mr. Davis's life, the congre- 
gregation declined considerably. He had never 
been a popular preacher, and other circumstances 
now combined to lessen the number of his hearers. 
Perhaps the poorer and more uneducated part were 
drawn away by the stirring appeals of ministers of 
other denominations, who about this period settled 
in the town. And after the death of Mr. Davis, 
the society of which he had been the pastor became 
still smaller in consequence of the want of a settled 
minister for several years. Lately they have pos- 
sessed the services of Mr. Taylor, who was educated 
for the ministry among the Calvinistic Baptists, 
under Dr. Ryland, at Bristol, but subsequently 
became an Unitarian. He labours amidst many 
discouragements ; the salary is very small, there 
being only one endowment of about three pounds 
per annum, bequeathed a few years since; and the 
prospect of an increase in the congregation is ex- 
ceedingly faint.* 

done some good, and I hope that in due time it will do more. I can 
truly say that the greatest satisfaction I receive from the success of ray 
philosophical pursuits, arises from the weight it may give to my attempts 
to defend Christianity, and to free it from those corruptions which prevent 
its reception with philosophical and thinking persons, whose influence with 
the vulgar and the unthinking is very great." — Priestley's Woi'ks ; 
Rutt's Edition. Vol. i. Part, i., p. 199. 

* In Dr. Priestley's time the society was small. Writing to Dr. Toul- 
min in 1776, he says, "We have lost our minister, Mr. Williams. I have 
sent an invitation to Mr. Jervis's brother, but I do not think him likely to 
accept it. Can you in that caSe recommend any one to us There are 
two places to serve, at the distance of seven miles, and together they 
raise ,£45, exclusive of assistance from the funds,"^ — Rutt's Priestley, 
Vol. i. Part i,, p. 296. 



60 



CALNE. 



There is a small piece of land adjoining the 
chapel which might have been converted into a 
cemetery. Two members of the congregation have 
been lately interred within the building. 



Thomas Jones 1662 — 

Nathaniel Webb 

Robert Rowswell 

Samuel Bourn 1679 — 1695. 

John Melhuish 1715 — 

Edward Williams 1772 — 1776. 

John Davis 1777 — 1829. 

— - Taylor 1831. 



Mr. Bourn was descended from ancestors who distinguished 
themselves by their ingenious and public-spirited plans. His 
grandfather and great grandfather were clothiers in Derby, and 
expended considerable sums of money to convey water into 
that town. An uncle, Mr. Robert Seddon, an eminent minister, 
who in 1662 was ejected from the rectory of Langley, in Derby- 
shire, took him early under his patronage, and sent him to 
Emanuel College, Cambridge, where he remained till 1672. 
He left the university without taking any degree, not being satis- 
fied with the oaths and declarations then required. 

Mr. Bourn, on leaving Cambridge, retiu'ned to Derby, and 
employed hunself for some time in a school. He then became 
chaplain to Lady Hatton. His next removal was to London, 
where he was ordained, and lived some time with an aunt. 
From London he removed to Calne, and thence to Bolton, 
where he died in 1719, in the seventy-second year of his age. 



CALNE. 



: ; His son thus described the consistency and excellence of his 
character. " Though he shone in the pulpit, he did not shine 
only there ; nor was he like those physicians who prescribe 
large or unpalatable doses of physic to their patients, but take 
none themselves. He lived the truths he preached ; and did 
not stand as a Mercury on the highway, that shews travellers 
the road, but keeps its place while they pass on. He did not 
press on you humility and lowliness of mind, with a proud heart 
of his own. He did not recommend temperance, and go into 
excesses himself. He did not rally against oppression, and in 
the mean time bear hard on the poor. He did not beg charity 
to the distressed, to the lecture, for building houses of worship, 
and withhold his own. He did not preach up the heavenly 
world to you, and all the time pursue only this world. He did 
not put you on diligence in your proper callings, and neglect 
his own callings ; for to this work, the work of the ministry, he 
gave up all his strength. He visibly wore away in his work, 
and did not rust away." 

His charity was eminent. He spared neither his pains nor 
his purse. Many good works commenced with him and were 
encouraged by him. He was free of his own, and had an ex- 
cellent talent of soliciting the charity of others. With him 
originated a small school for teaching twenty poor children ; 
and for several years he entirely supported it. At his death he 
left a legacy of twenty pounds to maintain the weekly lecture 
at Bolton. Yet his income was by no means large ; and though 
his people were abundantly able to increase his salary, he never 
appeared uneasy at its amount. His sentiments on doctrinal 
points were consonant to those of Calvin and the reformed 
churches: but his humility, candour, and affectionate temper 
would not allow him to be censorious or uneasy with any of his 
brethren. 

After his death, his son published a volume of his sermons, 
apprehending that "a specimen of his father's way of preaching 
might be instructive to young ministers, and contribute to pre- 
serve them from degenerating into loose and empty harangues. 



62 



CALNE. 



that want spirit and life. They are entitled, L The transform- 
ing vision of Christ in the future state. 11. The believer's hope 
of this transforming vision, the reason and the real motive of 
real holiness in the present state." To these discourses is sub- 
joined the funeral sermon for the author, with a delineation of 
his character and memoirs of his life, by Mr. William Tong, an 
eminent minister of that day. * 



* Toiilmin's Life of Bourn. 



BRADFORD 



"Bradford or Bradenford is a considerable market and manu- 
facturing town, situated on the banks of the Avon, at the distance of 
about thirty miles north-west from Salisbury, and one hundred miles 
south-west from London. The natural features of the country are 
bold and romantic : an abrupt hill rises immediately on the north side 
of the river ; and on the brow and sloping declivity of this eminence 
most of the buildings are placed. It derived its name, according to 
Camden, from its local position close to a broad ford on the river ; 
Braden in Saxon signifying broad. 

"The Kennet and Avon Canal passes by Bradford, and opens a 
communication, by water carriage, with the cities of Bath, Bristol and 
London, and with the towns of Trowbridge, Devizes, Hungerford, 
Reading, &c. This canal, in its way towards Bathford, foUows the 
course of the Avon, which it crosses at different points on aqueduct 
bridges, one of which is near Bradford. The banks of this river, 
below the town, exhibit many beautiful and picturesque scenes. The 
sides of the hills are covered with a profusion of trees, and in some 
places rise with great boldness from the margin of the river." — 
Beauties of England and W lies. 

Population in 1811,-2989; in 1821,-3760; and in 1831,-3642. 



GROVE MEETING. 

This is an old Presbyterian place of worship. 
Of its origin and earliest history I can discover na-| 
traces. A Mr. Dangerfield was its minister toward%5 
the close of the seventeenth century.* In 1715,5 
Mr, Thomas Barker filled that office, and continued^ 
to do so till 1729, when he removed. He was suc- t 
ceeded by Mr. Read, a friend of the unhappy Mr.) 
Simon Browne, of Shepton Mallet. After MrL^ 
Read came Dr. Roger Flexman, who officiated froinj'F 
1739 to 1747, and then accepted an invitation to be 
pastor of a society at Rotherhithe. In 1748, the 
congregation at Bradford chose Mr. Samuel Bil- 
lingsley, probably a member of the excellent family 
at Ashwick, in Somersetshire ; ten years afterwards 
he removed to Peckham. There is now an interval 
of some years, with regard to which I cannot write 
Avith certainty. Mr. James Foot, who came from 
Chard, was here in 1763, and it is probable that 
he was the immediate successor of Mr. Billingsley. 
He was a pupil of Dr. Doddridge ; the exact year 
of his death cannot be ascertained, but it appears 
to have been about 1777. He was succeeded by 

* Communicated, with othex' particulars, by Mr. Wilson. 



BRADFORD. 



65 



Mr. Williams, concerning whom I am only able to 
state that he removed from Calne; that, having a 
family and a small income, he engaged in some 
secular employment ; and that he died in the year 
1810. 

Since this time there has been much irregularity 
in the proceedings of the society at Bradford. For 
a long time previously its number had been small; 
and circumstances now occurred which rendered 
the task of reviving it exceedingly difficult. Like 
many others of the same denomination, it had gra- 
dually adopted Unitarian views of the Gospel. So 
early as the year 1793, forms of prayer, avowedly 
reprinted from an edition ^'used in the Unitarian 
Chapel at Manchester," were used in the Grove 
Meeting. But, after the death of Mr. Williams, a 
Mr. Combe preached some time in this place of 
worship, and, not being acceptable to the congre- 
gation, probably on account of his orthodox sen- 
timents, a new chapel was erected for him in the 
same town. Mr. John Evans, of Bristol, then sup- 
plied the Unitarians for a short period; but, not 
meeting with sufficient encouragement, he relin- 
quished the office, and the meeting-house was lent to 
a body of Trinitarian Dissenters for many years. 
In 1822, Mr. Eichard Wright, the Unitarian Mis- 
sionary, having settled with the General Baptist 
congregation at Trowbridge, a neighbouring town, 
obtained permission to re-open the Grove Meeting 
for the worship of One God the Father. This he 
did, and continued to officiate there every Sunday 

F 



66 



BRADFORD, 



morning during the five years he remained in 
Wiltshire; by which means a small congregation 
was re-established.* In 1827, Mr. Samuel Martin 
succeeded Mr. Wright as pastor of the church at 
Trowbridge, and also for some time regularly carried 
on the morning service at Bradford, adding an 
evening service in the course of the week ; but the 
claims on his time and attention at length obliged 
him to render his visits less frequent. For those 
visits he has never received any remuneration ; on 
the contrary, he has made pecuniary sacrifices, the 
congregation being very small, and the endowment 
scarcely sufficient to answer its purpose of keeping 
the building in repair. 



i^i'nfeters. 



Dangerfield 

Thomas Barker . 
Read 



1715—1729. 
1729—1789. 
1739—1747. 
1748—1758. 
1759—1776. 
]777_1810. 
1822—1827. 
1827. 



]6— 



Roger Flexman, D.D. 
Samuel Billingsley . 

James Foot 

Edward Williams . , . 
Richard Wright . . . . . 
Samuel Martin 



* Christian Reformer, Vol. xv. p. 122. 



BRADFORD. 



67 



Roger Flexman was born in 1707-8, at Great Torrington, 
in Devonshire, where his father was a respectable manufacturer. 
At fifteen jears of age, he was admitted into the Academy at 
Tiverton, under the care of the Rev. John Moor. His im- 
provement and general conduct during five years gave such 
satisfaction to Mr. Moor, that he solicited his assistance as a 
tutor. His views, however, were directed to the public exer- 
cise of his profession. In 1730, he was ordained at Modbury, 
but did not continue long there. Having officiated at Crediton 
five years,* and at Chard four years, he settled at Bradford at 
the end of 1739. In 1747, he removed to Rotherhithe, and 
married the daughter of Mr. Yerbury, a respectable member of 
the society at Bradford. In his new situation his labours were 
acceptable and useful. But after some time, the congrega- 
tion suffered much by the death of some members and the re- 
moval of others. The precarious state of Dr. Flexman's health 
rendered it necessary for him to withdraw fi:'om frequent service, 
and to reside in a part of the town w^here he could enjoy the 
benefit of the advice of a medical friend. All these circum- 
stances induced him in 1783 to resign his charge at Rother- 
hithe ; and in consequence of that event the society dissolved. 
He continued, however, to officiate as morning lecturer at St. 
Helen's, an office to which he was chosen in 1754 ; and he 
preached occasionally at other places as long as his health 
allowed. He died June 14, 1795, in his 88th year. 

The following particulars are taken from Dr. A. Rees's 
funeral sermon. Dr. Flexman's mental abilities and literary 
acquirements were considerable. He was particularly noted 
for his extensive and accurate acquaintance with the history of 
England. So retentive was his memory that it superseded the 
necessity of recurring to written authorities, and served him for 
the recital of the most obscure dates and facts. This rendered 
him capable of communicating important information upon a 

* Mr. Wilson's statement. That author does not mention Mr. Flex- 
man's settlement at Bow. See Eng. Presb., p. 165. 

F 2 



68 



BRADFORD. 



variety of occasions ; and he was often consulted by men of 
the first rank and character. In political discussions^ as well 
as in researches of a literary kind, his knowledge was of great 
service. It gave him access to many members of both houses 
of parliament, who availed themselves of hints and references 
with which he supplied them ; and it led him to form an ac- 
quaintance with several eminent scholars and writers. The 
only pecuniary advantage of any moment which he derived 
from connexions of this kind, arose from his appointment to be 
one of the compilers of the General Index to the Journals of 
the House of Commons. Volumes viii., ix., x., and xi., com- 
prehending the parliamentary proceedings from 1660 to 1697, 
were assigned to him. This elaborate work was begun in 1776, 
and completed in 1 780. But such pursuits did not prevent his 
application to subjects immediately connected with his sacred 
profession. The study of the Scriptures, and particularly of the 
New Testament, in the original languages, was an employment 
to which he devoted much time, and in which he took peculiar 
pleasure. His sentiments on theological subjects chiefly coin- 
cided with those of Dr. Amory and Dr. Samuel Clarke. Dr. 
Flexman was also distinguished for his integrity. He was in- 
timately acquainted with several dignified clergymen ; and we 
are assured that a considerable preferment was actually offered 
him. But he continued to exercise his ministry among the 
Dissenters, notwithstanding many difficulties and discourage- 
ments. Highly esteeming many members of the Establishment, 
and equally respected by them, he maintained his own profes- 
sion without wavering. On many occasions he approved himself 
an enlightened and strenuous advocate for civil and religious 
liberty. His abilities and various attainments justly entitled 
him to a degree of D.D,, which was conferred upon him in 
1770, by the Marischal College of Aberdeen.* 



* Wilson's Hist. *Vol. iv. p. 361 ; and Dr. A. Rees's Funeral Sermon. 



TROWBRIDGE 



** Camden says that its proper name is Trubridge, which means a 
firm and trusty bridge. Leland writes it Thoroughbridge ; and Gough, 
as well as the author of Magna Britannia, Trolbridge. The reason 
alleged for the last name is, that * beside the natural melting of i into 
w, there is a tithing in the liberty and parish called Troll, and a large 
common near it of the same name/ " 

" Like the generality of manufacturing towns, Trowbridge is very 
irregularly built. None of the streets seem to have been formed ac- 
cording to any predetermined plan, but to have been arranged, con- 
structed, and altered according as private interest, caprice, or conve- 
nience might suggest. Hence, though there are several handsome 
houses in the town, they appear to great disadvantage from the 
narrowness of the passage in front, and the intermixture of old and 
shabby-looking buildings." 

The woollen manufacture, in which a large number of the inhabit- 
ants are engaged, was first established here in the early part of the 
reign of Henry VHI., under the auspices of the Earl of Hertford, 
afterwards Duke of Somerset, to whom the town, as belonging to the 
Duchy of Lancaster, had been granted by the crown. The cloths now 
principally manufactured in this town are broad cloths and kersey- 
meres. — Beauties of England and Wales. 

Population in 1811,-6075; in 1821,-9545; in 1831,-10,863. 



CONIGRE MEETING, 

GENERAL BAPTIST. 

At the beginning of the last century there were 
many General Baptist churches in the county of 
Wiltshire. In the histories of their denomination 
frequent mention is made of the district meetings 
which they were accustomed to hold for purposes 
of religious fellowship. As new sects sprung up, 
the zeal of many of the brethren on behalf of 
baptism was weakened ; some congregations, par- 
ticularly in the smaller towns, became quite 
extinct ; and others gradually adopted the tenets 
and assumed the name of Particular or Calvinistic 
Baptists. 

The society at Trowbridge is one of the oldest in 
the kingdom. There is a tradition that it was 
formed some years before the passing of the Act of 
Uniformity. But the church-book was not com- 
menced till 1714; nor are there any traces of more 
ancient records. It is evident, however, from the 
number of names subjoined to the first memoran- 
dum, that the congregation had existed many 
years. The memorandum is as follows: ""We, the 
church of Christ, baptized on the personal pro- 
fession of our own faith, usually meeting in 



TROWBRIDGE. 



71 



Trowbridge and Southwick^ whose names are here- 
after subscribed, do agree that this be our church 
book, or our book to register the proceedings of 
our church meetings, and to be kept by one of our 
pastors for that purpose. July 30, 1714." Signed 
by two pastors, three ministers, four deacons^ and 
two hundred and twenty-four members. 

The church met for a long time at the two places 
here mentioned. They are three miles apart ; a 
meeting-house had been built in each, there being 
distinct congregations though a community of 
pastors, ministers, and deacons. The first pastors 
on record are Mr. John Lawes and Mr. John 
Davisson, who were probably free from all secular 
employments, and devoted entirely to the duties of 
preaching, administering the ordinances, and visit- 
ing. The ministers were Mr. James Edwards, 
Mr. Thomas Lucas, and Mr. Edward Evans ; they 
appear to have been engaged in business, and to 
have been selected from the general body of 
members on account of their superior attainments 
and other qualifications for assisting in the work of 
public instruction. It was customary among the 
General Baptist churches of this period to select 
a new pastor, in the event of the removal of an 
old one, from the ministers ; and there are instances 
of the gradual promotion of deacons, first to the 
office of minister and then to that of pastor, they 
being also originally chosen on account of their 
knowledge of the Scriptures, the steadfastness of 
their faith, and the purity of their lives. 



n 



TROWBRIDGE. 



The meeting-house at Trowbridge, in which one 
section of this flourishing church met at the time of 
the commencement of their register, is still standing. 
It is built in a style which indicates that the wor- 
shipers were opulent as well as numerous. The 
roof consists of several arches, curiously constructed 
and supported by two large pillars. There are 
three galleries, a baptistery, and a vestry. Beneath 
the pews are several vaults, in which, as well as in 
the cemetery adjoining, are the remains of many of 
the most influential and intelligent families of the 
town. The walls are ornamented by tablets to the 
memory of Messrs. Lucas, D. Jones, and W. Wal- 
dron, ministers of the congregation ; also by a 
monument with the names of all the other minis- 
ters, erected at the expense of Mr. Martin. Soon 
after this indefatigable man became the pastor of the 
church the sounding board was removed, and he 
caused to be inscribed over the pulpit in gold 
letters, "'Jesus Christ came into the world 
TO save sinners." The appropriateness of this 
inscription is recognized by all who are acquainted 
with the style of Mr. Martin's preaching and the 
circumstances in which he exercises his ministry. 

Mr. Lawes, whose name appears first on our list 
of pastors, is said to have died in the year 1714, 
and his colleague, Mr. Davisson, in 1721. The 
latter was the author of two works, entitled De 
Ordinatione Dissertatio Historica," and "A Vindi- 
cation of the Protestant Dissenters Mission, a 
sermon preached at Taunton, June 7, 1720." He 



TROWBRIDGE. 



73 



also superintended an academy for the education of 
young men for the ministry. Mr. Davisson was 
succeeded both in the pastoral charge and in the 
office of tutor by Mr. Thomas Lucas, one of the 
ministers.* He was the author of an excellent 
sermon On Compulsion in Matters of Conscience," 
some extracts from which, advocating the principles 
contended for in the present day in the same pulpit, 
may be found in the Christian Reformer.-]* There 
is a Latin inscription on a monument in the chapel, 
pointing out the spot where his remains were in- 
terred, and commemorating his high mental and 
moral qualifications for setting forth " pure and un- 
defiled religion;" he died after a short illness in 
174L Mr. Lucas was followed by Mr. W. Wal- 
dron, a native of Southmolton, in Devonshire. He 
went to Trowbridge for his education, became a 
good classical scholar, and an eloquent and dignified 
preacher. Having a family, he deemed it prudent 
to engage in the clothing trade, which he carried 
on with great success. He was pastor of the 
church upwards of fifty years, and died in 1794. 
It appears that he was assisted for some time in the 
ministry by a Mr. Cure. The following entry is 
found in the register of burials: "The Eev. John 
Cure was buried in a vault near the pillar in the 
south aisle, Nov. 17, 1762, aged 27 years." 

* To this academy were voted, in the year 1737, certain books belong- 
ing to the General Baptist church, Paul's Alley, Barbican. — Wilson, Vol. 
iii. p. 231. 

t O. S., Vol. ix. p. 235. 



74 



TROWBRIDGE. 



Mr. Waldron's successor was Mr. Thomas Twi- 
ning, of whose life I shall give a short sketch 
elsewhere. I am also enabled to furnish a distinct 
memoir of the next minister, Mr. Daniel Jones. 
But it may be desirable to introduce here a few 
particulars of the state of the congregation during 
his ministry.* He found at Trowbridge a small 
but peaceable society, and resumed those exertions 
to revive the General Baptist cause which he had 
made in other places. In this work he was suc- 
cessful ; his hearers soon increased, and many 
were united to the church. Nor were his labours 
confined to this spot. In conjunction with a few of 
his brethren of the General Baptist persuasion, he 
formed district quarterly meetings in the counties 
of Wilts, Somerset, and Dorset. I have not been 
able to ascertain how long these meetings were 
continued, but they are said by Mr. David, the 
biographer of Mr. Jones, to have " contributed to 
promote the knowledge of rational religion, awaken 
attention to free inquiry, and cherish just and libe- 
ral sentiments." " In sentiment," continues Mr. 
David, " Mr. Jones was a General Unitarian Bap- 
tist, and an advocate for free communion. His 
public discourses were plain and practical, but 
enforced by motives drawn from the Christian re- 
velation, and delivered generally extempore, with a 
pleasing degree of animation. The devotional parts 
of worship he conducted in a free, unrestrained 



* Mon. Rep. Vol. v. p. 20L 



TROWBRIDGE. 



75 



spirit of piety,, equally removed from formality and 
affectation." 

For some years the Trowbridge congregation 
had been approaching the sentiments defended by 
Mr. Jones. Several of his predecessors had distin- 
guished themselves by the candour and earnestness 
with which they sought for truth and advocated 
the rights of conscience. There was nothing in 
the constitution of the society to discourage them. 
It is true that in one respect the early discipline 
of the church was rigid; from 1714 to 1724, 
there were many expulsions in consequence of im- 
morality ; but there is no instance of excommuni- 
cation or even admonition, in consequence of sup- 
posed erroneous opinions. A bad life seems to 
have been the only heresy of which the Trowbridge 
congregation have ever taken notice. Nor is there 
the slightest intimation that the church was ever 
Trinitarian or Calvinistic, — ^that its members were 
ever required to do more than profess their faith in 
the Gospel, and endeavour to govern their conduct by 
its precepts. In the year 1806 Mr. Jones made the 
following entry : We have had much trouble from 
the Particular Baptists, who insinuate themselves 
whenever they can among our weaker members, and 
make the grossest misrepresentations of our doc- 
trine." All the successors of Mr. Jones have been 
decided Unitarians. Mr. Gisburne and Mr. Wright 
were celebrated for their zeal in advocating the un- 
popular doctrines of their denomination ; and the 
present minister is not less firm, although honour- 



76 



TROWBRIDGE. 



ably characterized by a practical and truly evan- 
gelical style of preaching. 

The congregation began to decline soon after 
other Dissenters erected their standards. About 
the year 1800, the meeting-house at Southwick 
being found no longer serviceable was taken down. 
In the town of Trowbridge there are now seven 
worshiping assemblies besides that connected with 
the Established Church. Of the latter, the Rev. 
G. Crabbe was for many years the minister ; and 
while his talents as a poet gained the admiration of 
his countrymen generally, his liberality as a clergy- 
man secured the respectful regard of his townsmen.* 

* The following remarks were made by Mr. Martin, in the General 
Baptist pulpit, at the close of his sermon on Sunday evening, February 
12, 1832. 

" I cannot conclude the sacred services of this hallowed day, without 
adverting to the loss we have all sustained by the death of the venerable 
Rector of this parish. He was, in every sense of the word, a good man, 
and one who has scarcely left his like behind. Kind in his disposition, af- 
fectionate in his manners, charitable in his principles, beneficent in his ac- 
tions, and liberal with his property, few were more deservedly honoured, 
or more universally beloved. Truly may it be said of him, in the beautiful 
language of Job : ' When the ear heard him, then it blessed him ; and when 
the eye saw him, it gave witness to him. He deUvered the poor that 
cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The bless- 
ing of him that was ready to perish came upon him j and he caused the 
widow's heart to sing for joy.' 

" While attached to the church of which he was a minister, and firmly 
maintaining the principles he professed, he was no bigot. The spirit of 
party which (alas, for the interests of religion !) prevails to such an im- 
happy extent in this town and neighbourhood, never stained his character. 
He was a lover of all good men, and like the holy Apostle of old, could say 
in the sincerity of his soul, ' Grace be with all who love the Lord Jesus 
Christ.* His memory will live in the grateful recollection of the wise and 
good, when that of narrow-minded bigots shall have passed into oblivion. 
Rich in years and usefulness, he came to his grave like a shock of corn in 
full season." — Bath Journal. 



TROWBRIDGE. 



n 



At the time of Mr. Martin s election, March, 1827, 
three fourths of the people were Dissenters; the 
number of General Baptists, however, was very 
small, and the affairs of their church in a bad state. 
In consequence of the timely and zealous exertions 
of the new minister, followed by the Divine bles- 
sing, the society now wears a different aspect. 
During the last seven years many members have 
been added to the church by baptism. The num- 
ber of hearers now generally amounts to about 130 
in the morning, 200 in the afternoon, and 300 in 
the evening. In addition to these services they 
have one of the same kind on Thursday evening, 
and prayer meetings on Sunday morning and Mon- 
day evening. One of the most interesting charac- 
teristics of this congregation is, that the majority of its 
members are in the humblest walks of life, yet find 
the simple truths of Unitarianism amply sufficient. 
Mr. Martin and his friends have also established or 
infused fresh vigour into several charitable institu- 
tions connected with the chapel, one of which is a 
well conducted Sunday-school, consisting of 150 
scholars, supported by an annual collection. In 
the present year the trust-deeds have been renewed, 
and the chapel put in complete repair, at an 
expense of one hundred and forty pounds. It 
is gratifying to observe the regularity with which 
all the proceedings of the church have been lately 
recorded in the original book. The annual letters 
to the general assembly, never copied among the 
minutes before 1827, now appear in their proper 



78 



TROWBRIDGE. 



place and furnish interesting and important infor- 
mation respecting the gradual improvement of the 
congregation. Long may both pastor and people 
continue to see their pious labours prosper, and may 
the God of truth whom they so faithfully endeavour 
to serve, make them glad according to the days in 
which they have been afflicted and the years in which 
they have seen evil. 

The following are among the monumental in- 
scriptions : 

In memory op the Rev. William Waldron, who was for fifty 
YEARS Pastor of the church of Christ in this place. He 

DEPARTED THIS LIFE 21st JANUARY, 1794, IN THE 79th YEAR OF 

his age, and is interred near this place. 
In memory of the Rev. Daniel Jones, who was Pastor of 

THIS CHURCH FOR TEN YEARS. He DIED MaRCPI 14th, 1810, IN 
THE 41st YEAR OF HIS AGE, AND IS INTERRED NEAR THIS SPOT. 



John Lawes 1710—1714. 

John Davisson 1712 — 1721. 

Thomas Lucas 1721 — 1743. 

William Waldron 1743 — 1794. 

Thomas Twining 1794—1799. 

Daniel Jones 1800—1810. 

William Jones 1811—1812. 

John Gisburne 1813—1822. 

Richard Wright 1822—1827. 

Samuel Martin ... 1827. 



TROWBRIDGE. 



79 



The Rev. Thomas Twining was bom at Haverfordwest, 
in 1746. In 1761, he commenced his academical studies in 
London, under Dr. Jennings and the Rev. S. M. Savage. 
After the decease of the former, and the removal of the seminary 
to Hoxton, he completed his course of education under Mr. 
Savage, Dr. Kippis, and Dr. Rees. His first settlement was at 
Exeter, in 1768, with a society that seceded from a Particular 
Baptist congregation. In the same year he removed to Down- 
ton, Wilts, on an invitation from a congregation of General 
Baptists. He was ordained as their pastor in May, 1775; and 
continued in this connexion till 1777. He then went to Trow- 
bridge, and became a colleague with Mr. Waldron, on whose 
death he was chosen pastor. Mr. Twining died suddenly, 
July 11, 1799. In the month of May preceding, he had visited 
his friends, and had preached before the General Baptist As- 
sembly, in Worship Street. On the 3rd of July, the annual 
meeting of the Western Unitarian Society was held at War- 
minster. Mr. Twining attended, apparently in perfect health 
and spirits ; and from a sense of duty, as he expressed it, became 
a member. The prospect of aid which the institution beheld 
in his character and abilities, was soon overclouded. Soon 
after he had given it his sanction, he was seized in the street at 
Trowbridge, before he reached his own home, and immediately 
expired. It is remarkable that, when he left his family in the 
morning, he took a more than usually affectionate leave of 
them ; and he was uncommonly cheerful all the day. 

During his residence in Exeter, he married Miss Ann Ken- 
naway, daughter of Mr. Robert Kennaway, fuller and maltster, 
by whom he had seven children. Mrs. Twining died in 1788, 
and of their children only two daughters survived their worthy 
father. Mr. Twining had learning and abilities ; he was a ju- 
dicious, though not popular preacher, and a man of unfeigned 
worth and goodness. In consequence of much study and inquiry, 
his religious sentiments underwent a great change ; he began life 



80 



TROWBRIDGE. 



a Calvinist, and died a Unitarian. His discourses, sixteen of 
which were published hy his friend Dr. Toulmin, afford a pic- 
ture of the man. Thej contain the sentiments of his open, 
honest, liberal, and inquiring mind, and are descriptive of the 
benevolence, integrity, and artless simplicity of his character. 
In 1786, he published "A Discourse on Baptism; containing 
remarks and observations on Dr. Priestley's chapters on the 
same subject. By Philalethes." This is a useful pamphlet ; it 
discovers a liberal spirit, and great good sense. He also printed 
a tract, entitled " A short History of the Pharisees, with a 
parallel between the ancient and modem." * 



Mr. Daniel Jones was the son of Richard Jones, woollen 
manufacturer, of Tresach, in the county of Carmarthen. Being 
fond of mechanical pursuits, he was apprenticed to a clock and 
watch maker ; but his master soon after died, and he gave up 
the pursuit of that business. It was about this time his mind 
was seriously impressed with the importance of religion, and 
this led him eventually to become a member of a Calvinistic 
Baptist church at Panteg. That society soon perceived the 
modest merit and intellectual powers of young Jones, and re- 
commended him as a candidate for the Christian ministry to 
the Baptist Academy at Bristol, then under the direction of Dr. 
Caleb Evans. Having finished his studies in the year 1792, 
he was invited to settle in Swansea with a society composed 
partly of persons who had separated themselves from the old 
meeting-house m High Street, and had erected a place of wor- 
ship in the Back Lane, in the same town : this was a Particular 
Baptist church. On beginning his labours here, he was highly 
approved of^ and was ordained the first year of his settlement. 
But there had been noticed in the Principality, several years 
before, a spirit of inquiry amongst some of the leading teachers 
in the Calvinistic Baptist connexion, which led many to doubt 



* Toulrain's Memoir of Twining, prefixed to the Volume of Sermons. 



TROWBRIDGE. 



81 



the truth of some popular opinions. Mr. Jones was hy no 
means an inattentive spectator to what was passing ; on the 
contrary, the discussions which had taken place led him to re- 
consider his creed by the test of Scripture ; and the careful study 
of the New Testament proved fatal to his "orthodoxy." It 
was not long before he was suspected of a departure from the 
popular faith, by a departure from unscriptural terms and phrases. 
Although his friends and admirers were numerous both in and 
out of the society at this period, yet as a lover of peace, and 
one who cultivated the spirit of his Master, he did not think it 
his duty to continue any longer in a situation that promised him 
more trouble than comfort, and more difficulty than usefulness. 
In the year 1800, Mr. Jones settled at Trowbridge, in conse 
quence of an unanimous invitation ; and here he remained till 
he died. The closing scene of his pilgrimage was interesting, 
but natural. A life of piety, obedience, and benevolence, may 
reasonably be expected to end in peace, if not in triumph. 
During his illness, he expressed to his friends his entire satis- 
faction in his Unitarian sentiments. To him they appeared 
full of harmony and consolation. He often remarked, that 
while he retained Calvinistic and Trinitarian opinions, he felt 
perplexed in performing acts of devotion, and in keeping his 
view on the proper object of it. His more recent faith was not 
devoid of consolation ; he exulted in the thought, " That all 
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus 
Christ" ; here he found a centre of rest ; and, consequently, his 
hope was full of immortality ! * 



Mr. GiSBURNE was born at Gisborough, in Yorkshire. His 
parents being members of the Established Church, he probably 
learned its doctrines and for some time attended upon its ser- 
vices. But at an early period of life he used his judgment, 
and followed the dictates of his conscience with respect to re- 

* Mon. Rep. Vol. v. p. 199. 
G 



82 



TROWBRIDGE. 



ligious subjects. At eighteen years of age lie joined the Wes- 
iejan Methodists; and soon became a preacher. In 1798, he 
went to Scotland, and remained there about three years. He 
then returned to England, and continued to labour as a Method- 
ist minister till the spring of 1803 ; when he changed his opi- 
nions respecting Baptism, and was publicly baptized at Wor- 
cester. The Baptist society at Soham being without a minister, 
he was recommended to them for three months, and soon after- 
wards settled with them. Even then he entertained just and 
enlarged notions upon the subject of religious liberty ; he pos- 
sessed, indeed, a mind too powerful to be fettered by human 
creeds, a spirit too iuvestigating to be confined within boun- 
daries prescribed by man. Subscription to certain articles of 
faith being required as a qualification for union with the society 
at Soham, the following was part of his reply to their invitation 
to him : " I have never subscribed to any human formulary of 
faith, and never intend to do it. I look upon myself as a dis- 
ciple of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, consequently it is impos- 
sible for me to submit to any other authority. I intend to 
maintain my liberty, and will never be brought under bondage 
by any. On no account can I ever think of subscribing to any 
book but the Bible." This led to serious conversation, and at 
length the whole church, excepting one person, agreed " to re- 
ject all articles of faith and covenants of human manufacture, 
as binding on any member, and subscribe to the sacred Scrip- 
tures alone." He then became their pastor, and, for severa} 
years, his services were much approved. Not satisfied, how- 
ever, without pursuing his religious inquiries, he eventually saw 
that some of the doctrines which he had believed were unscrip- 
tural. When the change in his sentiments was made known, a 
few of his hearers withdrew from his services, while the majority 
adhered to him and embraced his principles. Soon afterwards, 
the seceders resolved to return and eject him. Finding other 
means ineffectual, they at length determined to keep him out 
of the chapel by force, and for this purpose locked it up after 
one of the morning services. One of the trustees would not 



TROWBRIDGE. 



83 



consent to have the afternoon worship thus prevented, and 
opened a window, at which Mr. Gisburne entered to unfasten 
the door. A constable, though without a warrant, immediately 
took him into custody, and kept him five hours in confinement. 
The contending parties were then heard before two clerical 
magistrates, and the Calvinists bound over to prosecute at the 
next Cambridge assizes. Mr. Gisburne, on this occasion, ap- 
plied to the Committee of the Unitarian Fund. They advised 
him to procure a temporary place of worship, and sent their 
Secretary with an attorney to the assizes. Cross indictments 
were preferred against the prosecutors. The grand jury threw 
out the bill lodged against Mr. Gisburne, and found as true two 
bills presented by the solicitor of the Fund. Mr. Gisburne and 
his friends, unwilling to take an unfair advantage of this victory, 
adhered to a proposal they had made, of submitting the dispute 
to amicable arrangement. It was then agreed that Mr. G. 
should stop all proceedings against the rioters, and relinquish 
the old meeting-house, on condition of receiving fi-om the oppo- 
site party a sum towards the erection of a new one. This, 
having been built, was opened early in 1810. In the spring of 
1812, the pastor received an unanimous invitation from Trow- 
bridge, which he accepted. In 1822, he was visited with an 
affliction by which he was wholly disabled for public services, and 
his family brought into great distress. At this time of need, the 
Almighty Friend in whom he had trusted did not forsake him. 
His case excited the sympathy of many persons in various parts 
of the kingdom, who kindly and promptly afforded their aid. 
By the advice of friends, he removed to Soham with his family 
about half a year after his illness commenced, and there he 
finished his mortal course May 4th, 1826, in the 49th year of 
his age. * 

* Mon. Rep. Vol. xxi. p. 302. 



G 2 



WARMINSTER 



""^Wereminster, Werminster or Warminster, is situated on a plain 
immediately beneath a long tract of verdant down extending as far as 
Bratton Camp. 

" One long street passes through the town ; but in the middle of the 
last century it was so full of deep hollow ways that you might step 
from the foot path to the top of a loaded waggon. 

" This town has been long celebrated for its great and ready-money 
corn market, held weekly on Saturday ; a sack belonging to every load 
of wheat and of other grain is pitched in the open street and the pur- 
chases are made between the hours of eleven and one. 

*' The clothing trade in woollen cloths was formerly carried on here 
to a considerable extent ; but in consequence of the introduction of 
machinery and many other causes, it has dwindled almost to nothing." 

Sir R. C HoARE. 
Population in 1811,-4866; in 1821,-5612; in 1831,-6115. 



OLD MEETING. 



The seeds of Nonconformity in Warminster were 
probably sown by Mr, William Goiigh, who kept 
a school and preached here before the restoration. 

In the year 1662 he was rector of Inkpin^ in 
Berkshire^ and was deprived of his living on the 
fatal Bartholomew Day. He remained at Inkpin, 
however, till the passing of the Corporation Act, 
when he removed to Earl Stoke, between Warmins- 
ter and Devizes, and proved very useful to many 
infant churches.* 

Several ministers were ejected from the neigh- 
bourhood of Warminster by the Act of Uniformity. 
Small societies were immediately formed by their 
adherents, and meetings were held in retired places 
as often as possible. The history of the Dissent- 
ers in this town cannot be traced with precision 
farther back than the year 1687, when James the 
Second issued his declaration for liberty of consci- 
ence. It appears from the church book, which has 
been kept with unusual exactness, that Mr. Comp- 
ton South preached to the congregation and proba- 
bly became its pastor in that year. But the society 

* Noncon. Mem. Vol. i. p. 228. 



WARMINSTER. 



87 



had then been in existence some time and was one of 
the most important in this part of the kingdom. Dr. 
Calamy informs us^ that ^^Mr. South was invited 
by a numerous people at Warminster to undertake 
half the service of that great congregation."* 

His colleague was Mr. John Buckler^ who had 
officiated privately a considerable time, and was the 
principal instrument of forming the church. He 
also carried on the business of a maltster, and might 
have chosen for his motto, diligent in business, 
fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." About the year 
1690 he was committed to Salisbury gaol for preach- 
ing without a license, and the congregation imme- 
diately collected a sum of money for the supply of 
his wants in prison.-j* A portrait of this sufferer for 

* Non. Mem. Vol. ii. p. 497. 

f It is well known that for many years after the Revolution, the power 
of the High Church party remained fatally strong in every part of the 
kingdom. Hence, the trifling circumstance that Mr. Buckler preached 
without a license was sufficient to immure him in a dungeon, to the seri- 
ous injury of his health, his business, and the interests of the congrega- 
tion. Here, I would avail m3^self of an extract from a lately published 
and highly valuable work, for the purpose of shewing the hardships to 
which the Dissenters were subject at the period so frequently mentioned 
in this volume. — As imprisonment (says Sir James Mackintosh, writing 
of the year 1687,) is always the safest punishment for an oppressor to 
inflict, so it was in that age, in England, perhaps the most cruel. Some 
estimate of the sad state of a man, in suffering the extremity of cold, hun- 
ger and nakedness, in one of the dark and noisome dungeons then called 
prisons, may be formed by the remains of such buildings which industri- 
ous benevolence has not yet every where demolished. Being subject to 
no regulation, and without means of regular sustenance for prisoners, they 
were at once the scene of debauchery and famine. The Puritans, the 
most severely moral men of any age, were crowded in cells with those 
profligate and ferocious criminals with whom the kingdom then abounded. 
We are told by Thomas Ellwood, the Quaker, a friend of Milton, that 
when in prison in Newgate for his religion, he saw the heads and quarters 
of men, executed for treason, kept for sonie time close to the cells, and the 



88 



WARMINSTER. 



conscience' sake has been preserved by his descenc^ 
ants^ some of whom are still interested in the 
welfare of the society. At the close of the seven- 
teenth century, various ministers officiated occasion- 
ally, especially Messrs. Clarke of Shaftesbury, 
Titford, Smith, Rossiter, Phillips and Dangerfield; 
and in the year 1692 the celebrated William Penn 
addressed the congregation. 

Until the year 1704, the Dissenters at Warmins- 
ter assembled in a barn fitted up as a place of 
worship. They then erected the present building, 
which was opened October the 8th, 1704, by Dr. 
Cotton from Boston, North America. This eminent 
minister built a house for himself in Warminster 

heads tossed about in sport by the hangmen and the more hardened male- 
factors. The description given by George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, 
of his own treatment when a prisoner at Launceston, too clearly exhibits 
the unbounded power of gaolers and its most cruel exercise. It was no 
wonder that when prisoners were brought to trial, at the assizes, the con- 
tagion of gaol fever should often rush forth mth them from these abodes 
of all that was loathsome, and hideous, and sweep away judges, and jurors, 
and advocates with its pestilential blast. The mortality of such prisons 
must have surpassed the imaginations of m.ore civilized times ; and death, 
if it could be separated from the long sufferings which led to it, might 
perhaps be considered as the most merciful part of the prison discipline of 
that age. It would be exceedingly hard to estimate its amount, even if 
the difficulty were not enhanced by the prejudices which led either to ex- 
tenuation or aggravation. Prisoners were then so forgotten that tables 
of their mortality were not to be expected, and the very nature of that 
atrocious wickedness which employs imprisonment as the instrument of 
murder, would, in many cases, render it impossible distinctly and palpably 
to shew the process by which cold and hunger beget long distempers only 
to be closed by mortal disease. The computations have been attempted, 
as was natural, by the sufferers. William Penn, a man of such virtue as 
to make his testimony weighty, even when borne to the sufferings of his 
party, publicly affirmed at the time, that since the restoration more than 
5,000 persons had died in bonds for matters of mere conscience to God. — Sir 
J. Mackintosh's Hisiori/ of the Revohilion, p. KiO. 



WARMINSTER. 



89 



and was pastor of a church at Horningsham, in the 
neighbourhood. I have seen a curious acccount, 
by a Mr. Butler, of the disbursements to every 
labourer and for all the materials used in the erec- 
tion of the meeting-house at Warminster. It cost 
£487. 2s. 7d., which was raised, partly by sub- 
scription, and partly by the sale of pews and seats, 
which became the property of the purchasers, and 
were often sold and bequeathed accordingly. The 
communion service of plate Avas presented to the 
church. May 2nd, 1790, by Mr. John Langley, a 
member of the congregation, who also bequeathed 
^400. in the 4 per cent, annuities, with directions 
that, out of the Interest, £6. should be paid to the 
minister, lOs. to the clerk, and c;^9. lOs. to the 
poor. This is the only endow^ment. 

The time of Mr. Buckler's death is uncertain. 
Mr. South died in 1705, and was succeeded by Mr. 
Butcher, who was joint pastor till his resignation in 

1718, with Mr. Bates, who then became sole pastor. 
Mr. Bates entered on his duties in the year of Mr. 
Souths death. For many years the society was 
large. Writing to a friend in 1710, Mr. Bates 
describes it as consisting of some hundred hearers 
and a hundred communicants.* Some alteration 
must have been made in its numbers in the year 

1719, when Mr. Nathaniel Butler and a small 
party seceded in consequence of their dislike to Mr. 
Bates's preaching, and the unwillingness of the 



* Five years afterwards there were four persons in the congregation 
who were (lualificd, by their estates, to fill the office of Justice of the Peace. 



90 



WARMINSTER. 



others to invite a Mr. Pike as joint minister. It is" 
said that the secession was occasioned by a charge 
of Arianism against Mr. Bates ; — but, from a long 
representation ' in the church-book, signed by 44 
members, and dated June 26th, 1719, it appears that 
there was much misunderstanding on the subject. 
The following statement is under the fourth head : — 

" Whereas 'tis suggested that our minister favours the Arrian 
notion, as we hear Mr. Butler told the Rev. Mr. Robinson, we 
can't but all readily declare this to be a vile slander, that he 
has been very free and full in speaking against y*- notion, in pri- 
vate and public, and this Mr. Butler heard but a few days before 
he went to London with his complaint." 

However, the complaining party were determined to 
have Mr. Pike; "'and soon after this, (says Mr. 
Bates in a note to the above document,) a new 
meeting-house was built (which is now occupied 
by the Independent congregation), and great boasts 
of large supplies from London were made in the 
hearing of me, Samuel Bates." 

Mr. Bates, after having been sole minister many 
years, was induced to have an assistant. This 
office was undertaken by Mr. Lush ; five years after- 
wards Mr. Bates died; his colleague became his 
successor, and remained here until his own death 
in 1781. Mr. Lush's name occurs in the list 
of students educated under Dr. Amory at Taunton ; 
he lived to a great age, and though the prevailing 
recollection of him in the pulpit seems to be that 
of "a formidable looking person with a large 
white wig" — he is described as a very amiable 



WARMINSTER. 



91 



man in private life. The next minister was Mr. 
Andrews, of whose life I shall be enabled to furnish 
a short account elsewhere. He was followed by 
Mr. Thomas Tremlett, who, it is said, was taken 
from a business in which he was engaged in early 
life and sent to Oxford. Here, it appears, being 
unable to subscribe, he became first a commercial 
traveller, then minister of this congregation, and 
lastly an accountant in an eminent house in London. 
The other ministers in my list, of whom distinct 
biographical notices cannot be given, are Mr. 
Griffith Eoberts, now settled at Boston, in Lincoln- 
shire; Mr. Benjamin Waterhouse, who came from, 
and removed to America ; and Mr. James Bayley, 
the present minister, who is about to leave and to 
become pastor of the General Baptist Church at 
Lutton, near Long Sutton, Lincolnshire. 

The congregation continued large many years and 
has always been respectable. As the number of 
meeting-houses increased it declined in size, but 
retained several of the most influential inhabitants 
of the town. It is probable that Arianism gained 
ground about the middle of the last century. 
The last five ministers have professed Unitarian 
principles, which the whole congregation gradually 
adopted and now steadily maintain. A Sunday- 
school, the first in Wiltshire, was formed here soon 
after the introduction of those invaluable institutions 
by Mr. Raikes, and still exists. Since the settle- 
ment of the present minister a chapel library has 
been established. 



92 



WARMINSTER. 



John BucKLERi n&irfci; 

CoMPTON South 1687 — 1705. 

Butcher , 1706—1718. 

Samuel Bates 1705 — 1761. 

William Lush 1756 — 1781. 

Nathanael Andrews 1782 — 1794. 

Thomas Tremlett 1795—1800. 

Theophilus Browne 1800 — 1807. 

Griffith Roberts 1808 — 1825. 

Benjamin Waterhouse 1826 — 1832. 

James Bayley 1834 



Mr. Buckler, although a tradesman in Warminster, was a 
member of an ancient and opulent flimilj, whose descendants 
long enjojed considerable property in this part of the kingdom. 
He is the person to whom a letter now in the Harleian collection 
of MSS. is addressed. It is thus described in the printed cata- 
logues : " Copy of a letter of Mr. Edward Buckler, sent to his 
brother at Warminster, upon the tidiugs of the death of his only 
son, 8 June, 1666."— Harl. 9866. This Edward Buckler was 
ejected from Calbourn, Hants, and afterwards followed the trade 
of malting. With regard to the subject of this notice, no tiling 
prevented his doing all in his power to promote the glory of God 
and the good of mankind. Such men were to be found in almost 
every Nonconformist congregation at that early period. Regard- 
ing the sacred dictates of conscience above every other conside- 
ration, they adopted the principles which they believed most 
scriptural and most favourable to civil and religious liberty. 
Not contented with cherishing those principles in their own 
mind, they endeavoured to recommend them to their friends and 
neighbours ; and thus they were of incalculable service to the 



WARMINSTER. 



93 



cause. The two factSj mentioned in the history of the congre- 
gation, that Mr. Buckler was imprisoned for preaching and that 
a subscription was made on his behalf by his hearers, in the 
barn, are striking instances of Christian firmness on his part, 
and of Christian sympathy on theirs. Mr. Buckler was twice 
married ; his second wife was a daughter of Sir Alexander 
Powell, of Salisbury. He left two sons, John Buckler, Esq., a 
magistrate, and Mr. Humphrey Buckler, a woolstapler, both 
members of the Presbyterian congregation at Warminster, and 
highly useful inhabitants of the town. Mr. Buckler died in his 
eighty-eighth year. v^ia cuu a i lo.ci n 

Mr. Compton South is represented by Dr. Calamy as a 
good scholar and a useful preacher. He was descended from 
an ancient, genteel family, and educated at the free-school at 
Salisbury. His first settlement was at Odiham, in Hampshire, 
where he exercised his ministry about twelve months, and had 
a numerous auditory. The Act of Uniformity ejected him from 
the living of Barwick, in Wiltshire, to which he had been pre- 
sented by the Earl of Pembroke. From his ejectment until the 
Indulgence in 1672, his life was a constant scene of sufferings, 
he being seldom free from indictments and presentments in the 
civil courts. At that period he became the minister of a sober, 
intelligent, and unanimous people at Ringwood, to which place 
he went weekly, although eighteen miles distant from his home, 
and was constantly entertained at Moyles Court, the seat of 
Lady Lisle — until she was condemned by Judge Jefferies for 
harbouring Mr. Hicks, a Nonconformist minister. Mr. South 
does not appear to have been settled in any other place before 
his removal to Warminster. He was at length obliged, by great 
weakness, to resign his pastoral charge, and live entirely at his 
his own house at Upper Dunhead, where he died in 1705.* 

Nathanael Andrews. — A gentleman who was connected 
with the Warminster congregation many years has furnished 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 497. 



94 



WARMINSTER. 



me with the following information respecting Mr. Andrews : 
" I have heard that he was the son of a barber, that he was 
born at Wincanton, where his parents lived, and that his qnali- 
fications were snch as to cause him to be sent to an academy at 
Hacknej, after he had received the requisite preparatory educa- 
tion. I believe that he settled at Warminster, as pastor of the 
Presbyterian congregation there, soon after he finished his studies, 
and that he left this situation to go to America, where he joined 
a relative in some commercial pursuit, and at the same time 
preached to a society at Baltimore. He afterwards became chap- 
lain to an American man-of-war, sent on a voyage of discovery 
to the Mediterranean ; and the vessel being obliged to put in 
at Portsmouth, Mr. Andrews proceeded to Warminster and 
preached once more to his old congregation, after an absence 
of twenty years. It is further said that he returned to Baltimore 
and died there, after having enjoyed, for some time, a retired 
allowance as ex-chaplain to the Congress." 



BRISTOL. 

BATH. 

ASHWICK. 

SHEPTON MALLET. 

BRIDGWATER. 

TAUNTON. 

YEOVIL. 

ILMINSTER. 

CREWKERNE. 



BRISTOL 



**The camp at Clifton was the original town. It was fortified by 
one of the ancient British princes ; and its first name was Caer Godor 
or Caeroder." 

" Godor in Welsh is a chasm, a rupture ; in construction it drops 
the G according to the general rules of the language; and thus is 
formed Caer-Odor, the city of the chasm ; translated by the Saxons 
into Clifton, that is, the cliff-town : and more appropriate names for 
this fortress it is impossible to devise, standing as it does on the very 
edge of that prodigious chasm, through which the river Avon seems to 
force its way." 

" Thus was founded a British town on Clifton-hill, the original set- 
tlements from which Bristol was derived ; and when this latter town 
began to flourish, and the old hill-fortress to be neglected, it was easy 
and natural to call the new town, adjoining, by the old name, as hap- 
pened at Salisbury, Winchester, Colchester, and other places. — It is 
curious to observe how Clifton, after having transferred its inhabitants 
to Bristol and (X)ntinued an unfrequented village for more than 1000 
years, is now receiving back it^ population and re-asserting its claim 
to eminence." — Seyer, 

" After the name of Caer-Oder had been dropped, this place came 
to be called Bristow, partly from another of its ancient names, Caer 
BritOf the British city. But this name had not an immediate deriva- 
tion from the ancient British. The Saxons, in their rage for changing 
the name of every place in their possession, gave this a termination 
from their own language, by adding the word stow, a place, to the 
ancient name Brito ; hence it was long called Bntstow, from whence 
it was latinized into BristoUa., or Bristolimn, and, lastly, derived its 
present name, Bristol." 

** This city has several public edifices of great beauty and import- 
ance. [Some of the most striking are devoted to the diffusion of kno^v'- 

H 



98 



BRISTOL. 



ledge, tlie administration of justice, and tlie promotion of commerce.] 
Here are nineteen churches belonging to the Establishment, besides 
places of worship appropriate to almost aU the various denominations of 
Dissenters, and a synagogue for the sernce of the Jews. [The cathe- 
dral in College Green has not an imposing exterior. Among the 
curiosities inside is an emblematic painting of the Triune Deity, being 
a triangle in a circle, surrounded by cherubs.]" 

" Though not, probably, the most ancient, this is certainly one of 
the most important cities in the empu-e, and was long reckoned second 
only to the metropolis, in a commercial and political point of view. 
The singularity of its situation, on the borders of two extensive coun- 
ties, in fact standing in both, yet strictly belonging to neither, seated on 
seven hiUs, and, in other respects, resembling ancient Rome ; surrounded 
with some of the most delightful scenery that the country can boast, 
being the great emporium of trade for the western counties, and the 
share it has had in all the great events of our histoiy, are circum- 
stances that have often excited the interest, and roused the curiosity of 
the tourist and the annalist." — Nightingale. 

Population in 1811,-81,010; in 1821,— 95,758 ; in 1831,-117,016. 



LEWIN'S MEAD CHAPEL. 



The city of Bristol honourably furnished its 
share of confessors on the memorable Bartholomew 
Day. Seven of its most learned and useful minis- 
ters resigned their livings because they could not 
conscientiously comply v^ith the terms of the Act of 
Uniformity. Some remained in the city^ and others 
in the neighbourhood^ preaching to small companies 
of adherents^, so long as they could avoid imprison- 
ment and find places in w^hich their prayers might 
be offered^ unheard by the emissaries of Persecu- 
tion. Besides the ministers who were ejected in 
Bristol, many others resided there soon after they 
had quitted their livings. Dr. Calamy especially 
mentions Mr. Blinman, who had been minister of 
Chepstow, and Dr. Ichabod Chauncey, the chaplain 
to a regiment at Dunkirk, and afterwards a physi- 
cian.* All these ministers contributed to strengthen 
the cause of Nonconformity in this city, but the 
honour of forming the first regular congregation 
is chiefly due to Mr. John Weeks, ejected from 
Buckl and -Newton, in Dorsetshire; Mr. William 
Troughton, from Salisbury ; Mr. Eichard Fair* 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii, 352, 
H 2 



100 



BRISTOL. 



clough, from Mells, in Somersetshire ; and Mr. 
Samuel Winney, from Glastonbury. 

Bristol was noted for the number of its religious 
sects many years before the Act of Uniformity was 
passed. In 1645, when the city was taken by the 
Parliament army, the inhabitants were greatly di- 
vided, both on questions of church government and 
intricate doctrinal points.* Eleven years after- 
wards, Quakerism having been recently introduced, 
the unfortunate James Naylor appeared here and 
excited great attention, especially among the poor 
and ill-informed. At this time most of the pulpits of 
the Established Church were filled by Presbyterian 
ministers, against whom the leaders of the new sect 
were exceedingly bitter, often producing disturb- 
ances in their " steeple houses" while they were con- 
ducting public worship.-]- After the ejectment of so 

* To this fact there is curious testimony in a farewell sermon preached 
by one Samuel Kern, in 1646. This good man acted in the double capacity 
of major and chaplain to the Parliament garrison at Bristol ; and the fol- 
lowing remarks, among others, were addressed to the regiment when he 
left : " It is a sad time, this ; but a more sad omen of worser times, — even 
the rahble of opinions in this city of Bristol ; of which I may say, that as 
the sword hath slain many, so hath error many more in a few months* 
time. One while such a man preacheth truth, and you are willing to pull 
out your eyes to do him good : a little after you are ready to pull out Ms 
eyes, and he is a low man and not worthy your presence, and so dis- 
couraged. How many wayes do you make to heaven in this place ! I 
beseech you where I am related unto, to look to your guards ; keep a strict 
watch ; double your guard ; eye your sally ports ; and put on the whole 
armour of God." 

t See Mr. Seyer's valuable Memoirs of Bristol, Vol. ii. p. 500. Few 
modern topographical works equal this in the number and beauty of its en- 
gravings, and the interesting nature of its facts. It is enriched by copious 
extracts from the curious MS. calendars, or chronicles, relating to the his- 
tory of the city, and preserved by the corporation and a few private indivi- 
duals. One of these calendars has the following notice : " An heresie arose 



BRISTOL. 



101 



many of the ''priests/' the opposition of the Quakers 
became less vehement ; notwithstanding their fana- 
ticism they were fervent lovers of religious liberty, 
and it would have been strange, indeed, if they had 
not reverenced the spirit which led the Nonconfor- 
mist pastors to brave, as they themselves had done, 
the frowns of the world. This was an era when all 
the enemies of spiritual usurpation were required to 
unite. Many and determined were the opponents 
of Civil and Religious Freedom, among the corpo- 
rate body and their partizans in this city. Their 
zeal against Whigs and Dissenters was at its height 
during the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion; — the 
Duke of Beaufort, then Lord Lieutenant, drew up 
twenty-one companies of foot on Redcliffe Mead, 
and declared that if the citizens shewed any dispo- 
sition towards insurrection he would immediately 
set fire to the town. Monmouth, on hearing this, 
is reported to have given up his intention of at- 
tempting to enter Bristol, saying, '^God forbid I 
should bring fire and sword on so noble a city !" 
Again, on the accession of George the First, there 
was a proof of the difficulties which the Dissenters 
had to encounter in the attachment of the principal 

by the people called Quakers, to which many did cleave, and chiefly in the 
city of Bristol." — Mr. Seyer thus continues : " Beside the Quakers, the 
leading sects were the Presbyterians, the Anabaptists, and the Independ- 
ents ; and they were in violent hostility to each other. As for the Church 
of England, it was so intirely subdued, as apparently to be forgotten ; it is 
not even mentioned in any of these fanatic books and pamphlets lately 
quoted. The Presbyterians had gained the supremacy ; most of the 
churches were occupied by their ministers ; theirs was, in fact, the esta- 
blished church." — Seyer's Memoirs, Vol. ii. p. 500. 



102 



BRISTOL. 



inhabitants of Bristol to the Tory party, and their 
disloyalty to the new monarch and his government. 

The public rejoicings were interrupted by a high- 
church rabble, the houses of those who illuminated 
were furiously assaulted, and their windows broken, 
with such other demonstrations of zeal as the 
Sacheverellites of that time, and their successors 
of later periods, thought requisite for the welfare 
of the Church and the maintenance of good 
order."* 

* Nightingale's Somersetshire, p. 666. Seyer confirms this account, 
and shews particularly that the Dissenters were great sufferers. " On the 
day appointed for the coronation, there were again in this city extraordinary 
rejoicings, and in the evening an illumination ; but the conclusion of 
the day was deplorable. About six or seven o'clock in the evening, an 
unruly mob began to assemble, and continued rioting and doing mischief 
till about midnight, before they could be dispersed. This mob was a 
Tory mob, and the violence which they committed was, (of course,) as they 
said, in defence of Church and State, and the objects of their rage were the 
Whigs and Dissenters. The spirit of party was at that time very violent 
throughout the kingdom, and in few places more so than in Bristol. The 
Tories and High- Churchmen were the same party, and some who sm"\dved 
were the same men as the Royalists in the reign of Charles I. and II. : 
most of these were much dissatisfied -VNath the exclusion of the family of Stuart 
from the throne, and with the succession of the house of Hanover. Their 
adversaries called them Jacobites, as being attached to Prince James ; and 
Cheverellites, as friends to the principles of Cheverell, as the mob called 
Dr. Sacheverell ; and therefore they did not join, or joined unwillingly, in 
the rejoicings on the accession of King George. One may venture, at this 
distance of time, to say that this party contained the most respectable 
part of the citizens ; [Mr. Seyer would probably call the clergy and magis- 
trates who might have stopped the Bbmingham Riots, men of the highest 
respectability ;] and it is manifest from what followed, that the populace 
were of the same party. They began to collect a little before night, and 
mustered to the number of aboiit five hundred, who testified their ill- 
humour by breaking the windows of such houses as were illuminated, 
putting out the bonfires, and crying out, Bown with the Roundheads — God 

bless Dr. Sacheverell ; Sacheverell and 0 ; d n all foreigners. 

They first attempted IVIr. Cough's Presbyterian meeting-house, in Tucker 
Street, but were liere disappointed; they broke the door but did not go in, 
a woman in t)ic ncigbbourhood telling them that there were several per- 



BRISTOL. 



103 



The founder of the Lewin s Mead congregation 
was Mr. John Weeks, who had been ejected from 
Buckland-Newton, He came to Bristol soon after 
his ejectment, preached as often as he could, and 
was much persecuted here by the corporate officers 
and other public men. Twice he was imprisoned 
six months on account of his Nonconformity, but 
during his confinement he preached out of the prison 
windows, and had many of the common people con- 
stantly to hear him. His talents and sufferings 
rendered him so popular, that for many years he 
was the minister of a congregation of fifteen hun- 
dred persons, all of his own gathering.* For some 
years before his death, which occurred in 1 698, he 
was assisted in his ministerial duties by Mr. Joseph 
Kentish, whose father and grandfather were ejected 
ministers, and who received his education in an 
academy at Wickham Brook, in Suffolk, conducted 
by Mr. Cradock, another member of the same ho- 
nourable band.-j* It does not appear in what place 

sons within, armed with muskets to defend it. The first house on which 
they discharged their fury was Mr. Whiting's, the Under SheriiF, in Tem- 
ple Street, {alias Temple-hacks,) with whom they were offended, because 
he had prosecuted a notorious rogue who had been guilty of perjury. The 
next was the house of Mr. Jeffery, a distiller, a Dissenter, belonging to the 
meeting-house above mentioned, whose v/indows they shattered to pieces ; 
the same they did to a button maker, because they fancied that he made 
the buttons for the coat in which the pretended Dr. Sacheverell was to be 
burnt. But their principal object was the house of Mr. Richard Stephens, 
a baker, in Tucker Street, a man of good property, a Dissenter belonging 
to the neighbouring meeting-house, one who always distinguished himself 
in the support of the Whig candidates at elections." — Seyer's Memoirs, 
Vol. ii. p. 561. 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 445. 

t Toulmin's History of Dissenters, p. 240, 



104 



BRISTOL. 



the members of Mr. Weeks's congregation assem- 
bled during the troublesome times which preceded 
the Revolution. The earliest authentic memoran- 
dum is dated December 26, 1692, and appears at 
the beginning of the first church-book, — one of the 
most interesting records I have been allowed to in- 
spect. From this memorandum an opinion may be 
formed as to the state of the society. It is as fol- 
lows : 

Memorandvm. 

f , Bristoll, Decern. 26, 1692. 

That day above written, [we] being at Election of Officers 
for year Ensuing, twas agreed upon (above 20 of Society 
being present) That Mr. Abra — Elton be Elected Treasurer, 
Mr. Ambrose West, Mr. Thomas Corp, and Mr. William 
Stratton, Assistants. 

And there being Several debts at that time, it was further 
agreed that y^ two important cases, (viz.) 

The affair of y' Meeting House and Mr. Spademan of Rot- 
terdam his affair, be presented first by y^ Said Treasurer and 
Assistants with the greatest Diligence ; that y* Treasurer shall 
Issue out his orders to the Assistants to warn 30 or more of y" 
most substantial men of y^ Society as Occasion Shall offer, 
upon the aforesaid affair or any other important affair; and 
that if Sixteen or more beside the Treasurer doth appear, that 
the Majority of them shall determine the aforesaid affair. 

John Weeks [Minister], 

[and many of the members.] 

Abraham Elton, Treasr., 

[and the three Assistants]. 

Hence we may infer that the first house of 
prayer in Lewin s Mead was then about to be erect- 



BRriSTOX. 



105 



©i.£ The inference is strengthened by the third 
memorandum in the church-book, dated August 25$ 
1693. By a meeting then held, six persons were 
empowered ^^to consider a plan for raising the 
money for building a meeting-house." Neither on 
this point, nor on the time when the undertaking 
was completed, have we any information ; but there 
was certainly no needless delay. With regard "to 
Mr. Spademan of Rotterdam his affair," that gentle- 
man, who had been ejected from a living in Lin- 
colnshire, and subsequently resided in Holland, re- 
turned to England soon after the Revolution, and 
proposed to open an academy in or near Bristol.* 
Agreeably to the above memorandum, the Treasurer 
warned thirty or more of the most substantial men 
of the society. A meeting was held January 20, 
1693, and each person present subscribed towards 
encouraging the plan. But as far as Bristol was 
concerned, it was relinquished ; Mr. Spademan 
went to London, accepted an invitation to be co- 
pastor with Mr. John Howe, and afterwards opened 
an academy in Hoxton Square, in conjunction with 
two other divines, Mr. Lorimer and Dr. Oldfield. 
The Lewin's Mead records, for nearly half a century 
from this time, relate almost entirely to the appoint- 
ment of the Treasurer, his assistants, and other 
officers, which was attended to with great regularity 
and unanimity at the close of every year. In 1708, 
sixteen persons were elected as deacons "to assist 

* Wilson's History of Dissenting Churches, Vol. iii. p. 42. 



106 



BRISTOL. 



at the administration of the Lord's Supper, several 
persons who formerly filled the office being deceas- 
ed ;" and this custom has been observed to the pre- 
sent day. In 1718, a committee v^as first appointed 
'*^to assist the Treasurer, and to meet once a month 
or oftener, to consider of every thing that may be 
for the good of the society" — another useful plan 
still regularly acted upon. 

The succession of ministers at Lewin's Mead is 
traced with much ease and accuracy. I have stated 
that Mr. Weeks gathered the congregation and was 
assisted, during the close of his life, by Mr. Kentish. 
On the death of the pastor the assistant became the 
successor, and remained in that office until his 
own death in 1705. When Mr. Kentish was pro- 
moted, the congregation invited Mr. Michael Pope 
to assist him ; but he declining the invitation, they 
chose Mr. Strickland Gough. On Mr. Kentishs 
death they again applied to Mr. Pope, and prevailed 
upon him to leave London and settle with them as 
their pastor. This arrangement was not compli- 
mentary to Mr. Gough ; and three years afterwards 
there was, for a short time, a slight want of unani- 
mity which terminated in the retirement, or rather 
dismissal, of Mr. Gough. First the question was 
mooted whether it was desirable to continue Mr. 
Pope in the office of pastor, which being carried in 
the affirmative, it was proposed at the next meeting 
that, " for several weighty reasons," Mr. G ough 
should cease to be the assistant, which was carried 



BRISTOL. 



107 



by a majority of 44 to 12.* From this time Mr. 
Pope seems to have been sole minister till his death 
in 1718. Then we find the names of Samuel Bury 
as the pastor^ and John Diaper as the assistant. 
There are but few notices of the life of Mr. Pope. 
His family were persons of considerable influence 
in the city^ and the names of several of its members 
occur frequently in the records of the society. Du- 
ring his ministry the congregation continued large, 
increased in opulence^ and were distinguished for 
Christian zeal and integrity. It is worthy of re- 
mark, that at this early period, and even still farther 
back, there is not the slightest proof that the min- 
isters and people at Lewin's Mead ever professed 
the opinions and adopted the practices now called 
orthodox. If such had been the case, it is natural 
to suppose there would have been traces of it in the 
correspondence (copied into the records) between 
the society and their spiritual teachers preparatory 
to the settlement of the latter. Of these documents 
the following letter is a fair specimen : 

~] Att a general meeting of the Society (the 
September the I whole being summoned), Mr. Michael Pope's 
7th, 1705. j acceptance of the within call was read, and is 

J as followeth : — 
Gentlemen, 

I have considered the import of your kind letter, and upon 
due thought am purswaded 'tis my duty not to delay in my de- 

* From the preceding allusion to Mr. Gough, (see extract from Seyei', 
p. 102,) it appears that he became the minister of the Tucker Street con- 
gregation after he left Lewin's Mead. 



108 



BRISTOL- 



termination as to my acceptance. I do therefore, after due 
thanks to the society for your kind invitation, upon (I hope) 
due apprehension of the Great concern of a Pastoral charge, and 
[your] readiness to assist and encourage me in the discharge of 
so solemn and weighty a concern, accept of your kind offer and 
shall accordingly endeavour to be with you as soon as I can: I 
must be allowed some time to take my leave here of Persons to 
whom I am so very much obliged: it cannot but be expected 
that I should move leasurely — that due provision may be made 
for the several places to which I am related. I design (God 
willing) to be with you the latter end of the month, and shall 
dispose of my affaii'es accordingly. I beg your prayors, and 
beg for you that the Grace of our Lord Jesus may be with your 
spirits, whose I am and for whose sake I shall endeavour to 
serve you as the minister of our common Lord, as becomes 

Your humble servant, 

Michael Pope. 

London, September 4, 1705. 

This letter, written a hundred and thirty years 
ago, contains nothing that might not be written by 
an Unitarian minister of the present day. The 
same may be said of another letter which I shall 
introduce as a faithful token of the earnestness as 
well as the sentiments of many of the Presbyterian 
ministers of that time. It is entitled '"The dying 
Pastor's last legacy to his flock: being the farewell 
letter of the Rev. Mr. Samuel Bury ; a late eminent 
preacher of God's Word, to a Dissenting congrega- 
tion in Lewin's Mead, Bristol. Written a little, 
before his death, which happened on March 10, 
1730."* 



* Plot. Diss. Mag., Vol. i. p. 218. 



BRlSTO^i. 



Most loving, and dearly beloved flock, ^ m' miiMmmiei 
Knowing that shortly I must put off tliis my tabernacle, I 
would not but leave you this last testimonial of my sincere love 
to you. How much soever I have failed in my duty to any of 
you, yet God is my witness, that I sincerely love you all, and 
that I never appeared in the mount before him in secret, but 1 
Lad you all on my breast, and in my heart there. I am now to 
serve you no more in my former station. I blush to think I 
have served you no better, but am glad I have served you at 
all ; for, thanks be to God, I have a comfortable list of many 
sincere converts among you, as in many other places, who are 
effectually brought home to Christ, and can boldly call me their 
spiritual pastor and father, who shall be my joy and crown of 
rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus' appearance to judgment. 

I have made it my business to preach unto you, and press 
upon you, the substantial doctrines and duties of religion ; and 
what I was fully assured was well grounded upon holy Scrip- 
ture. T was always afraid of apocryphal sins and duties ; I 
mean of charging any thing upon you, as sin or duty, for which 
I had no scriptural but imaginary proof or warrant ; and I bless 
God I have made it a considerable part of my life to get ready 
for death, and have now finished the work which God gave me 
to do. I have been employed in the Lord's vineyard, and borne 
the heat of the day, and continued in his work, blessed be his 
name, till evening ; and can now comfortably look into another 
world, in hope of the reward of eternal life, which God hath 
promised ; nor is it any terror to me to meet death, and appear 
before the awful bar of God ; while I can keep a steadfast eye 
upon my prevailing advocate and intercessor in heaven. I hope 
I can in some measure say, with the blessed apostle St. Paul, 
"for me to die is gain; and that I have a desire to depart 
hence and to be with Christ, which is best of all : and that I have 
fought a good fight, and finished my course, and kept the faith, 
and henceforth I hope there is a crown of righteousness laid up 
for me ; and not for me only, but for all them that love his 
appearing." 

I have been solemnly devoted and ordained to the ministry, 



110 



BRISTOL. 



and I bless God I have taken much pleasure and satisfaction in 
it, especially when I have been any ways acceptable to the peo- 
ple. I never was prostituted to any party, but have endeavour- 
ed to serve God as a Catholic Christian ; I could not conform to 
the present establishment of the Church of Eugland, because 
of difficulties which, upon the most impartial study, have ap- 
peared to me as insuperable. Nor could I ever be reconciled to 
the temper and interest of unpeaceable Dissenters, who would 
censure or unchurch all men that were not of their way. I 
have loved a Conformist as heartily as a Nonconformist, when 
both have been so for conscience' sake ; and when the power of 
godliness hath equally appeared in both, they have equally 
shared in my sincere love and affection. — I am now within 
sight of the world of life, light, and peace, where there is neither 
Jew nor Gentile, circumcision nor uncircumcision, but Christ is 
all in all ; yet before I can leave the world, I must take my 
solemn farewell of you all, my beloved flock and people. I am 
now never to speak to you any more from the pulpit, nor must 
you ever see my face again till the vast appearance at the great 
day of judgment. Suffer me, therefore, I beseech you, solemnly 
to obtest and conjure you all, as your dying pastor, and one 
that must meet you ere long at the Lord's bar, and stand as a 
witness for you or against you then, — that you do not compli- 
ment God and your precious souls, but make religion your main 
business and work of your lives, in defiance of all the avocations 
and circumstances of this world. Whatever becomes of your 
shop and compter, be sure you mind your closet : secure to 
yourselves an interest in Cln-ist without any delay, by accepting 
the gospel offer, and rest yourselves upon him for righteousness 
and eternal life. Never trust to your own hearts, in matters of 
salvation, without an impartial trial, and that every day. Let 
the work of self-examination be carried on by you ; " examine 
and prove yourselves in order to know yourselves, whether you 
are in the faith;" whether your evidences for heaven be sound 
and of the right kind ; whether your title is clear for a better 
world ; and do not suffer any strangeness betwLxt God and 
your own souls, or the least blot on your evidences for eternal 



BRISTOL. 



Ill 



life. That you. may keep up your communion with God, clear 
up your union with Christ, which is the ground of your com- 
munion ; and see that you shew a just, inviolable respect to 
both the tables of God's law. In all your religious and secular 
concerns, keep conscience void of offence both toward God and 
man, and let every day's practice be the mending of the last 
day's errors. Make conscience of relative duties towards each 
other, and set up family instruction in your houses, and make 
the world truckle to your daily acts of divine worship. Dili- 
gently observe yourselves and families to keep from the infec- 
tion of evil company, that would lead you to drink and game, 
or to haunt the play-house ; which, as Archbishop Tillotson 
calls it, is the Devil's Chapel; a school and nursery of lewdness 
and vice. — Be not ashamed of godliness and true religion, 
though others reproach you on that account ; it being much 
easier to bear man's censure than God's anger and displeasure. 
— Have a special regard to the due sanctification of the sabbath- 
day, both in your assemblies, families, and closet. Also give 
diligent attendance on all the ordinances of religion, whether 
stated or occasional. — Keep the unity of the spirit in the bond 
of peace and love, and shew yourselves exemplary unto others, 
for Christian temper and moderation. Adorn the doctrine of 
our Lord Jesus Christ in all things, and let your light shine 
before men, that others, seeing your good works, may be in- 
duced by your good example to glorify God also. 

And now, my beloved friends and brethren in Christ Jesus, I 
leave you, and humbly commit you all to the care and conduct 
of the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, and to the word of 
his grace, and to the direction and guidance of his good spirit, 
which is able to keep you from falling, and to present you fault- 
less before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, and to 
build you up and give you an inheritance among them who are 
sanctified ; and am your affectionate and ever-loving, and now 
dying pastor, 

Samuel Bury. 
The Lord be with your spirits and mine. 

Amen and Amen. 



112 



BRISTOL. 



This excellent man Avas educated at Islington, in 
Mr. Doolittle's academy. The catholic sentiments 
expressed in his letter are the more honourable to 
him, because in early life he witnessed much secta- 
rian strife. His tutor was obliged by the prevailing 
spirit of intolerance to remove, first from Islington 
to Battersea, and soon after to place his pupils with 
private families at Clapham. In this seminary Mr. 
Bury was contemporary with Mr. Matthew Henry,; 
of whom he once said, while delineating his charac- ? 
ter, ^'he was to me a most desirable friend and I- 
love Heaven better since he went there."* Mr. 
Bury first settled at Bury St. Edmunds. He 
preached and afterwards published two sermons ori;. 
the opening of the Presbyterian chapel at Bury, 
December 11, 1711; and his portrait still remains 
in the vestry of that building. He published a few f 
other single sermons, and the life of his wife, a lady 
of eminent piety and benevolence. 

The successor of Mr. Bury at Lewin s Mead was 
Mr. Diaper, during whose ministry large additions 
were made to the congregation. In the record of 
the proceedings of the year 1736 we find the name 
of Sir Michael Foster, who for some time worshiped 
at Lewin's Mead.-|- The committee met regularly 
to arrange the affairs of the society. At their sug- 
gestion, in 1748, a lecture which had been delivered 
on Wednesday evening was afterwards delivered 
during the winter months in the morning. It had 

* Tong's Life of Matthew Henry, p. 27. 

t The life of this great lawyer and upright judge was published in 1811, 
by his nephew Mr. Dodi*on. 



bkistol': 



113 



been also customary for the pastor to preach a Pre- 
paration Sermon on the Friday evening preceding 
the day for the administration of the Lord's supper ; 
this also was altered to the morning. But the most 
interesting minute in this period of our history re- 
lates to the improvement of the singing. The con- 
gregation, in common with others, had been accus- 
tomed until the middle of the last century to sing 
without books at the dictation of the clerk, who 
gave out the lines singly. In 1758 a committee, 
consisting of John Hall, Jeremiah Ames, and 
others, met and passed resolutions in favour of the 
introduction of such a hymn book as the ministers 
should approve of, and the gratuitous distribution 
of copies among boys, servants and poor people. 
They also resolved, with a further view to the im- 
provement of the singing, that requests should be 
made to the ministers for suitable sermons on the 
subject, — to the clerk for his attendance in the 
vestry twice a week to teach those who were desi- 
rous of learning — and to the female part of the 
congregation for their especial assistance on the 
Lord's-day, in this part of public worship. 

This plan was immediately carried into effect. 
The pastor was Mr. William Eichards. His pre- 
decessor, Mr. Diaper, whose assistant he had been, 
resigned in 1751, on account of infirmities. Mr. 
Diaper was but little known beyond the circle of 
his congregation, but that circle he brightened by 
his beautiful example and labours of love. The 
society were warmly attached to him, as indeed 

1 



114 



BRISTOL. 



tliey have been to all their ministers, proving the 
sincerity of their regard by friendly and delicate 
proceedings in reference to every official change, and 
by manifesting a warm interest in the progress of 
truth and virtue. The life of Mr. Richards was 
equally devoid of incidents of general interest. 
Where he was educated, or whether he published 
any thing, I have not been able to ascertain. He 
was chosen assistant in 1731, and pastor in 1751 ; 
and his letter of resignation is dated December 26, 
1768. While alluding to the bodily indisposition 
which led to this event, he also bears testimony to 
the worth of the Lewin's Mead Society. It is 
necessary," he says, during the small remainder of 
my life to desire the relief of ease and freedom from 
the constant returns of public labour. I cannot, 
therefore, longer postpone declaring my resignation 
of the pastoral relation to this reputable and to me 
highly endeared society. I cannot but reflect with 
gratitude and pleasure, that the providence of God 
assigned me the sphere of my service among a 
people with whom I have enjoyed so long and un- 
interrupted satisfaction, for whom I always have 
had, and ever shall retain, a most cordial affection 
and esteem." 

On the appointment of Mr. Richards to the office 
of pastor, Mr. Thomas Wright was chosen his 
assistant. After the retirement of Mr. Richards, 
the congregation were supplied by various ministers 
in conjunction with Mr. Wright, until Mr. (after- 
wards Dr.) Estlin became his permanent assistant. 



BRISTOL. 115 

Thus connected, these gentlemen laboured together, 
with much success, twenty-one years, when, at the 
earnest request of Mr, Wright, Dr. Estlin was 
appointed joint pastor. Five years afterwards^ 
Mr. Wright died, and the vacancy was filled by 
the election of Mr. John Rowe to the same office. 
In 1817, Dr. Estlin died and was succeeded by Dr. 
Carpenter, who had been many years one of the 
ministers of George's Meeting, Exeter ; and in 
1832, another change took place in consequence of 
the removal of Mr. Rowe, on which occasion the 
society chose Mr. R. B. Aspland, of Chester, son of 
the Rev. R. Aspland, of Hackney. Of Dr. Estlin 
and Mr. Rowe biographical notices will be found 
in the usual place. With regard to the present 
ministers, their names and their labours are too well 
known, and too highly esteemed, to need further 
notice here. One circumstance, however, may be 
mentioned as closely connected with my object 
When Dr. Carpenter had resided at Bristol about 
ten years, his health became so much impaired that 
he deemed it right to tender the resignation of his 
pastoral office. This, his attached congregation 
were unwilling to accept, and finding it probable 
that a complete change of air and scene and a pro- 
tracted cessation from his usual engagements would, 
under the Divine blessing, be followed by a renew- 
ed capacity for exertion, they urged him to continue 
their minister. At length Dr. Carpenter consented ; 
in the month of August 1828, he addressed a letter 
(afterwards lithographed) to the society, stating the 

i2 



116 



BRISTOL, 



reasons by which he was influenced^ and manifest* 
ing the same affectionate spirit^ the same earnest 
desire for the Christian improvement of his hearers, 
as the reader has perceived in the letter of his pre- 
decessor Mr. Bury, 

The history of the congregation during the last 
half-century includes the erection of the present 
chapel. The old building was originally held upon 
a lease which expired about the middle of the last 
century, when arrangements were made for placing 
the property on a more satisfactory footing. The 
meeting-house, the ground on which it stood, and 
several old buildings adjoining, were at length 
purchased by the society; and, prior to the year 
1790, the present handsome chapel was erected on 
the same site. While the work was going on, the 
congregation assembled on one part of the Sunday 
in the Independent chapel, in Bridge Street, it being 
then customary for the Dissenters of Bristol, though 
differing widely on points of doctrine, to accommo- 
date each other in the spirit of power and of love 
and of a sound mind. Many years afterwards the 
Lewin's Mead society, acting in the same spirit, lent 
their place of worship for several weeks to another 
Independent congregation meeting in Castle Green ; 
— ^but when, more recently, the Unitarians applied 
for the loan of the Castle Green chapel in return, 
the accommodation was denied ; — many of the 
orthodox" worshipers would have consented, but 
the minister pronounced his veto and he was suffer- 
ed to prevail. 



BRISTOL. 



117 



The situation of the Lewin s Mead chapel is well 
known to be bad. The building, however, is in 
every respect worthy of the large and respectable 
society assembling within its walls. It has three 
aisles and three galleries, and is capable of seating 
about 1000 persons.* The pulpit and desk are 
particularly neat. In the gallery, opposite, is an 
organ. A new and useful collection of hymns^ 
made by Dr. Carpenter and others for the use of 
the society, and since adopted by other societies, was 
introduced in 1831. It may be here mentioned, 
that Dr. Estlin at one period of his ministry wished 
a liturgy to be used at Lewin s Mead. The subject 
was discussed, but the congregation not being 
unanimous, the old plan was continued. Divine 
Service is conducted in the morning and evening. 
The number of w^orshipers is about six hundred, 
exclusive of several hundred scholars. 

Many changes have taken place during the last 
twenty years. A large number of heads of families 
and not a few promising young persons have been 
removed by death. There have also been seces- 
sions in consequence of doctrinal changes. Con- 
siderable interest was excited by the sudden altera- 
tion in the opinions of Dr. Stock, about the year 
1817. That gentleman, after having long proved 
himself a zealous member of the Unitarian congre- 
gation, became, in the course of a few weeks, a 
Calvinistic Baptist. Many years afterwards, the 

* The galleries are ascended by two geometrical staircases rising from 
the wings of the building. 



118 



BRISTOL. 



■^public were presented with the Second Thoughts" 
of Mr. C. A. Elton, a gentleman of considerable 
literary reputation, who went back to the Establish- 
ed Church, from which he had seceded. He is the 
son of the Rev. Sir A. Elton, Bart., and the lineal de- 
scendant of the first treasurer at Lewin's Mead. He 
joined the Unitarians about the time of Dr. Stock's 
secession, and published several powerful defences 
of the sect every where spoken against, — especially 
Unitarianism Unassailable, " and " An Appeal to 
Scripture and Tradition." If, however, the congre- 
gation have suffered losses, they have also received 
many valuable additions. In 1822, the Rev. S. C. 
Fripp, a clergyman of the Established Churchy 
avowed his conversion to Unitarianism in the 
Lewin's Mead pulpit, after an examination of nearly 
four years ; and there have been other instances of 
-the same kind. Within the last few years many 
persons have joined the society from the middle 
and lower ranks of life. This may be attributed, 
under Providence, to various circumstances — par- 
ticularly to a strain of truly evangelical preaching, 
the well conducted schools attached to the chapel, 
and the occasional meetings for the cultivation of 
social and religious feelings. These meetings have 
greatly increased in number and interest. In ad- 
dition to the useful intercourse occasioned by the 
schools, the Book Society, the general congrega- 
tional affairs, and the Western Unitarian Society, 
whose committee reside in Bristol, much good has 
been done by annual tea-meetings. The first was 



BRISTOL. 



119 



held five years since, on Good Friday, and was 
attended chiefly hy the teachers and managers of 
the schools. They have since been held on the 
same day on a larger plan ; each has been more 
numerously attended than the last, and all have 
been productive of pleasure and improvement. The 
congregation, of both sexes and of all ages and 
classes, now assemble to the number of 250, at 
five o'clock in the afternoon, and after taking tea in 
the school-rooms, listen to addresses on subjects of 
importance to them as members of a congregation, 
■ Unitarian Christians, and friends to the universal 
diffusion of knowledge and happiness. ynam 

Besides commodious vestries attached to the 
ehapel, the congregation possess other eligible 
buildings on the same spot. When the chapel was 
built, stables and coach-houses were provided for 
the accommodation of the worshipers. Over the 
stables is a lecture room, built in 1818, for the pur- 
poses of religious instruction to the younger mem- 
bers of the congregation ; here the Intermediate 
School is taught and the chapel library kept. In 
the month of January, 1826, the latest buildings 
were completed. These afford a strong proof of the 
zeal and generosity of the Bristol Unitarians. They 
consist of two large school-rooms, a committee- 
room, and a kitchen, together with a small tene- 
ment for the master and mistress of the Infant 
School, and the mistress of the Girls' daily school. 
In addition to this property, there are at Brunswick 
Square a burial-ground, and a small building in 



120 



BRISTOL. 



which the funeral service is conducted ; and at 
Stoke's Croft an ahns-house for 12 poor persons, 
and school buildings for the daily instruction and 
partial board of thirty-six boys. 

The institutions concerning which I shall state a 
few facts, may be noticed in the following: order : — 

L The Stoke^s Croft Alms-house, 

II. The Stoke's Croft School. 

III. The Girls' Daily Schools. 

IV. The Sunday-schools. 

Y. The Infant and Intermediate Schools.* 

Besides these there are — ^the Fund for the Relief 
of Poor Ministers or their Widows, the Reading 
Society, the Fellowship Fund, and the Chapel Li- 
brary, — ^all well supported and of great utility. 
Perceiving the necessity of concentrating their ef- 
forts as much as possible, the congregation have 
lately established a fund, called the Lewin s Mead 
Auxiliary Fund. There will consequently be no 
longer distinct subscriptions to the Chapel Library 
and Fellowship Fund. The leading objects of the 
ncAv society are, to assist other congregations, to 
contribute towards York College and the L^nitarian 
Association, to maintain and extend the Congrega- 
tional Library, and to distribute tracts calculated to 
make L^nitarian principles better known and pro- 
mote their practical influence. 

* The information given under these heads is chiefly derived from an 
interesting statement printed by the congregation, in 1833. 



BRISTOL. 



m 



I. The Stake's Croft Alms-lwuse/^ ^^t'y ' 

This charity, together with the school conducted in the same 
buildings, was founded in the early part of the last century. 
At its commencement the congregation subscribed £4000 for the 
erection of the building and the support of the institution. This 
fund was further aided at subsequent periods, by benefactions 
and legacies, all which were vested in public securities. But as 
the income of the charity did not increase with its exigencies, 
at the beginning of the present century an appeal was made to 
the congregation on its behalf, which was liberally answered. 
At the same time it was resolved, that the fund should be fur- 
ther increased, by congregational collections and annual sub- 
scriptions for the benefit of the school, — a resolution which 
has been acted upon to the present time. The alms-house is 
comfortable, and is occupied by eleven women and one man, 
for each of whom there is an allowance from the funded 
property. 



II. The Stoke s Croft School. 

For a long time from the establishment of this institution, 30 
boys were instructed and wholly supported by it. The number 
boarded in the house was gradually lessened, till, on the appoint- 
ment of the present master in 1832, that part of the system was 
entirely relinquished, and the advantages of the school limited 
to instruction, with clothing and dinners on Sundays. At the 
close of 1832, six boys were added to the school, but with fewer 
advantages than the others in consequence of the state of the 
funds. The general objects of instruction are, reading, writing, 
arithmetic, and geography, together with the essentials of 
English grammar. Attention is paid to the exercise of the 
intellectual powers, and the boys are made familiar with the 
facts of scripture history, the duties of life, and the principles 
and precepts of religion. In these objects the master, who re- 



122 



BRISTOL. 



sides in the house, is aided by the ministers of the congregation, 
and the school is frequently visited by them and the other feoffees. 
Prayers and portions of scriptm-e are read by the master every 
morning and evening, when several of the persons in the alms- 
house usually attend. On Sundays, also, the scholars are 
occupied in suitable employments. All the arrangements tend 
to prepare the boys for the usefal occupations of life ; and va- 
rious instances have occurred, in which they have been enabled 
by its training to raise themselves into creditable situations. 
They are not admitted till they are nine years of age, nor con- 
tinued more than four years. When they leave, provision is 
made for continuing their religious instruction. 



III. The Girls Daily School. 

This school was commenced in 1787. Twenty-one girls are 
taught, and have clothing and Sunday dinners. The expenses 
are defrayed out of funded property, aided by the annual sub- 
scriptions and the biennial collection. The following rules 
and principles are selected from a paper published in 1825. 
They are connected with the history of the congregation, and 
may furnish a useful guide to the promoters of similar institu- 
tions. 

It was the intention of those who founded this School, that 
the children should be chosen, in the first instance, from suitable 
families connected with the Lewin's Mead Congregation. And 
it was their particular desire, that the characters of the parents 
or guardians of the children recommended should be attended 
to, in order that the endeavours used in the School to form 
habits of piety, industry, neatness, &c., might be encouraged 
and promoted at home. 

The girls are required to attend regularly and punctually, 
from nine till twelve in the morning, and from two till four or 
five in the afternoon. On the Lord's-day they form part of the 
Sunday-school. " They must appear with their clothes clean 
and properly mended ; their faces, necks, and hands washed ; 



BRISTOL. 



123 



their hair combed and cut short. They must never be kept 
from school on trifling pretences, nor without leave of the 
Mistress. The elder ones are instructed in household work and 
washing ; and during the last two years in writing and arith- 
metic. No girl is admitted before she is nine years of age, or 
continues after she is fourteen ; ^if on quitting the school she ob- 
tain a place of service, remain in it for six months, and receive 
a good character from her mistress, one guinea is laid out for 
her in clothes. Young ladies of the congregation, not being 
subscribers, are invited to become Visiters of the School, and to 
attend the Quarterly Meetings of the Subscribers, when scholars 
are elected and Visiters appointed. — The proper visiting of the 
School is, in various ways, an object of great moment, and en- 
courages among the girls a disposition to propriety of demeanour 
and regard to character." 



IV. The Simdai/-ScJiooh'. 

These were established in 1821. They are taught in the 
new buildings, and supported by donations from individuals 
and grants from the fund of the Lewin's Mead United Schools. 
Connected with this institution is a School Library. About 
ninety books and tracts are lent every Sunday. The following 
extract from a speech by Dr. Carpenter, in the year 1834, sup- 
plies interesting information as to the origin and objects of th^j 
Lewin's Mead Sunday-schools : " The school at our meeting 
at Exeter was the first in that place. At Bristol we had to wait. 
There are times when we must watch and wait for years. Our 
friends thought that the children would not be allowed to come. 
In the meantime, in the spring of 1818, two Persians of emi- 
nence, who were in this country, visited us. They wanted to 
know if we had a Sunday-school, and said they thought we 
were not so active as we ought to be. It was of no use to tell 
them of Birmingham. We could not speak of one Sunday- 
school in London, or of one in Bristol. These inquiries, how- 
ever, enabled us to stir up our friends ; and we are now felt by 



124 



BRISTOL. 



the poor around us to be their benefactors. Prejudice and pa- 
rochial influence have been active against us ; but this should 
stimulate our zeal. Whose zeal is not stimulated bj being told 
we are not Christians ? Our proper answer to this reproach is, to 
rouse a spirit of exertion ; not in behalf of foreign missions — we 
should not throw awaj our strength upon those ; but a spirit of 
exertion at home. Mj friends, teach Christianitv, not contro- 
versiallj, but simplj ; that is the best waj of teaching it. If 
the children inquire farther, teach them, as matter of fact, that 
such opinions are held, and lead them to think for themselves. 
Teach them never to turn awaj from holiness and love. Teach 
them in this manner, and then, though thej should leave us, 
the J will not be bitter against us. Shew them that our belief 
is not a mere skeleton, but that we have the vital power of 
religion." * 

V. The Infant and Intermediate Daily ScJiooh. 

The former was commenced in 1826, and the latter in 1829. 
Both are supported bj the fund of the United Schools. The 
Infant School contains from eighty to ninety children, who are 
taught in one of the rooms in the new buildings. The Inter- 
mediate School contains about the same number, and is in- 
structed in the lecture room, on another part of the premises. 
Besides the provision for moral and mental culture in these in- 
stitutions, thej have a dispensary, established exclusively for the 
Lewin's Mead Schools. It appears by the medical report for 
1832, that 106 cases had been attended to and relieved in the 
course of the year. In consequence of the great attention then 
paid to the health of the children, the cholera, which proved so 
fatal in some parts of the city, did not afflict one of the Lewin's 
Mead scholars. " Advantage has been taken (says the report) 
during the past year, of the permission given by the Committee 
to extend the benefit of this dispensary. The fall advantage of 
the permission has yet been limited, lest the fimds should be 

* See Report of the meeting of the Sunday-school Association held in 
London, General Boptisf Advocate, Vol. iv. j). 105. 



BRISTOL. 



125 



inadequate to meet the necessarily increased expenditure. Ap- 
plication for advice has beeii constantly made by various mem- 
bers of families, of which the younger branches are attached to 
the Schools. Thus, in many instances, it is hoped that serious 
illness has been averted, since no delay has arisen from the fre- 
quent difficulty of procuring recommendations to other chari- 
ties." 

The length to which I have protracted this ac- 
count precludes my giving further particulars of the 
minor institutions connected with the society. For 
the same reason I cannot enter into the details of 
those admirable systems of management both moral 
and pecuniary, by which at the same time each 
school is distinctly provided for, and all are under 
an efficient superintendence. Enough has been re- 
corded to enable the reader to reflect with pleasure 
upon the efforts of the Bristol Unitarians ; and while 
he turns his thoughts to Lewin s Mead, where the 
opulent are giving of their abundance, the aged and 
well-informed guiding by their judgment, and the 
young devoting their energies to deeds of goodness, 
he may derive abundant encouragement to do what 
his hands find him to do, with all his might. 

The following inscriptions are found on suitable 
tablets in the small building in the cemetery in 
Brunswick Square: 

Near this stone 
are deposited the remains 
OF THE Reverend Thomas Wright, 

WHO SUSTAINED WITH DIGNITY THE CHARACTER OF MINISTER 

OF THE Society of Protestant Dissenters in Lewin's 



126 



BRISTOL. 



Mead during the space of forty-eight years. 
He departed this life the 14th of May, 1797, 

IN THE seventy-first YEAR OF HIS AGE. 

By a manly avowal of the genuine principles 
OF Religious and Civil Liberty : 
By an ardent and well-directed zeal to promote 
the knowledge and the practice of pure Christianity: 
and particularly by a life of strict integrity. 
He acquired general respect, and secured to himself the 
testimony of a good conscience, and the well-grounded 
hope of a happy immortality. 
His public services, in which piety, 
affection, and judgment, were united, 

were happily continued to the period OF HIS DISSOLUTION. 

"Blessed is that servant whom his Lord 

WHEN he COMETH SHALL FIND SO DOING." 



Sacred to the memory of 
THE Rev. John Prior Estlin, l. l.d., 

MINISTER OF LeWIN's MeAD ChAPEL 

for forty-six years, 
who, beloved and regretted, died 
August 10th, 1817, aged 70 years. 
His writings are characterized by an enlightened zeal for 
the faith of the gospel, as his life was by benevolence, 

integrity, simplicity, and cheerful piety ; and his 
departure was illumined by the joyful expectation of a 

RESURRECTION TO ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JeSUS ChRIST. 

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 



Also of John Wright, m.d., 
who, from an incapacity through a failure of voice 
to discharge the duties of the christian imlxistry, 
in which he delighted, engaged in the 
medical profession, and actuated by the same 
principles of ptkty ano benkvolence, closed a life op 



BRISTOL. 



127 



VARIED USEFULNESS IN THE PLEASING HOPE OF IMMORTALITY, 

23rd December, 1794, jet. 62. 

**MaRK the PERFECT MAN, AND BEHOLD THE UPRIGHT: 
FOR THE END OF THAT MAN IS PEACE. 

PSALM XXXVII. 



John Weeks 1662—1698. 

Joseph Kentish 1698—1705. 

Strickland Gough 1698—1708. 

Michael Pope 1705—1718. 

Samuel Bury 1718—1730. 

John Diaper 1718 — 1751. 

William Richards 1730 — 1768. 

Thomas Wright 1751 — 1797. 

John Prior Estlin, LL.D 1770 — 1817. 

John Rowe 1797—1832. 

Lant Carpenter, LL.D 1817. 

Robert Brook Aspland, M.A 1832. 



John Prior Estlin was bom at Hinckley, in Leicester- 
shire, April 9th, 1747. He received his school education 
under the auspices of his maternal uncle, the Rev. John Prior, 
Vicar of Ashbj-de-la-Zouch, and his earliest views in life 
seemed to be directed to the Church of England, towards which 
and its religious services, notwithstanding the wide difference 
with regard to doctrinal points in the sentiments he afterwards 
entertained, he always felt a certain degree of affection. From 



128 



BRISTOL. 



school he was, however, in 3764, sent bj his father to tlie 
Academy at Warrington ; and the course of studies he there 
went through, determined his choice towards a different per- 
suasion. The Divinity chair of this seminary was then filled 
by the Rev. Dr. Aikin, for whose character he felt the highest 
respect, and whose sentiments in morals and religion he for the 
most part adopted. Having finished his academical course, he 
was invited hy the congregation of Le win's Mead, as colleague 
to Mr. Wright. With this society, a numerous, respectable, 
and affectionate one, he continued till those who -had sat as 
children under his early ministry, had themselves become heads 
of families ; and he often spoke with much feeling of the nume- 
rous friends he had followed to the grave, always adding with 
energy, that he should ever bless God for the circmnstance, 
that he had not known an instance of a person who regularly 
attended the worship of God in that place, who had not hope 
in his death, and of whom he had not the brightest hopes. 
In his funeral sermon on the death of his co-pastor, in 1797, 
he says, " Two hundred times have I been called to the dis- 
charge of a similar melancholy duty." Soon after settling at 
Bristol, Dr. Estlin opened a school, which became a very 
flourishing one ; many of his pupils did credit to themselves and 
to their tutor, by the proficiency in classical learning which they 
afterwards exhibited in the Universities, or other stations in life. 
He treated his pupils with great liberality ; and their sense of 
the happy hours they had spent under his tuition was expressed 
by an annual meeting held on his birth-day, at which he was 
always a delighted and delighting guest. At one of these meet- 
ings they presented him with the degree of Doctor of Laws, 
which they had procured for him, without his knowledge, from 
the University of Glasgow. It was usual with Dr. Estlin, on 
these occasions, to address his former pupils in a short speech ; 
and that which he delivered on his last birth-day, when he 
completed bis seventieth year, was peculiarly impressive. His 
school and congregation did not, however, so engage his active 
mind as to pre\ cnt his giving to (ho world several publications 



BRISTOL. 



129 



relatis^e to those topics of religion and morals which were the 
favourite subjects of his investigation. They testify that he 
approved himself the watchful defender of the truths he pro- 
fessed to teach, and that the powers of his mind were engaged 
with sincerity and fervour in the duties of his profession. His 
style was elegant, clear and flowing — rather turned to pathos 
than to dry argumentation ; his delivery in the pulpit animated, 
solemn, and affectionate. He was fond of preaching, and never 
spared himself when any occasion called him forth. 

Dr. Estlin's religious opinions were what are called Unitarian, 
though, with his usual candour, he thought it wrong to restrict 
that term to those who hold the simple humanity of Christ. He 
always invited discussion, and though in the confidence of a san- 
guine disposition, (perhaps the best disposition for happiness,) 
he made no doubt of the prevalence of the opinions he held, 
and that in a very short time, over the whole Christian world, he 
always shewed the utmost candour to those of a different per- 
suasion ; the fervour of his religious feelings never led him to 
bigotry, nor his liberality to scepticism. He approved of forms 
of prayer, and published in 1814 a volume of such forms, great 
part of which is taken from the Liturgy of the Church of 
England. He also embraced with great ardour the doctrine of 
Universal Restitution ; led to it as well by the benevolent tenden- 
cies of his own mind, as by the earnest and reiterated arguments 
of a dear and beloved friend. 

The leading characteristics of Dr. Estlin were an amiable 
frankness and simplicity, with a kind and sociable disposition, 
which made him, even when years pressed upon him, always 
acceptable in the society of the young and active. He never 
refused his purse to any claim of distress or useful project to 
which subscriptions were solicited ; and the money he thus dis- 
bursed amounted to no inconsiderable portion of his income. 
In the domestic circle, his kindness, his candour, his hospi- 
tality, his cheerful piety, the writer of this memoir has often 
experienced. Though fond of his children, he was not apt to 
indulge that anxiety which saddens the domestic circle, and 

K 



130 



RRISTOL. 



perhaps often defeats its own purposes ; he lived to see his 
family grown up, and some of them settled in respectable pro- 
fessions. For some years past Dr. Estlin had experienced a 
decay of sight, and he had often said that after threescore and 
ten a preacher ought to be emeritus. He therefore resigned his 
situation at Lewin's Mead, and preached his farewell sermon, 
June 22, 1817. The congregation shewed their regard for him 
in various ways, particularly by presenting him with a handsome 
sum of money upon his retiring from the ministry. Being thus 
exonerated from all professional duty, having also given up his 
school, he went for the summer to Southemdown, in Glamor- 
ganshire, a retired place by the sea-side, where he had usually 
spent his vacations, and where he had amused himself by 
building a cottage. His health seemed to be declining, yet 
there appeared nothing immediately alarming. On Sunday, the 
10th of August, he performed the morning and afternoon ser- 
vices to his family and a few neighbours assembled in his house : 
the subject of his sermon was the resurrection. Retiring soon 
after into his chamber, he was seized with a sudden effusion of 
blood from his lungs ; the affectionate partner of his life ran to 
him : he grew faint, leaned his head upon her bosom, and with- 
out a sigh expired. His remains were conveyed to Bristol, and 
interred in the burying - ground belonging to Lewin's Mead 
Chapel. They were followed to the grave by more than one 
hundred and twenty gentlemen on foot, and many carriages. 
The burial service was performed by Dr. Carpenter, and on the 
next Sunday a consolatory sermon was preached by his old 
friend Mr. Manning, of Exeter. The chapel was hung with 
black, and the whole congregation put on mourning. Dr. Estlin 
was twice married, and left six children. 

The above sketch is chiefly in the words of a memoir in the 
Monthly Repository,* with the initials of Mrs. Barbauld. An- 
other memoir, containing a few more particulars, apparently 
from the same elegant pen, is prefixed to Dr. Estlin' s Lectures 



* Vol. xii. p. 573. 



BRISTOL. 



131 



on Moral Philosophy. In either may be seen a list of Dr. 
Estlin's works, twelve in number, in defence of his sound and 
rational views of Morals and Theology. 

Mr. John Rowe was descended from ancestors in good 
worldly condition, and celebrated, through several generations, 
as firm and zealous Nonconformists. He was the sixth child of 
William Rowe, Esq., of Spencecomb, near Crediton, and was 
born on the 17th of April, 1764. His father and mother were 
both Dissenters of the English Presbyterian denomination ; the 
former he lost at an early period of his life, but this misfortune 
was alleviated by the affectionate care of his amiable and judi- 
cious mother. It is no small proof of the wisdom of his parents 
that, perceiving in him an inclination for the Christian ministry, 
they placed him early in the classical school of the Rev. Joseph 
Bretland. Here he remained longer than the usual period, 
profiting by the instructions of his highly respected preceptor. 

On leaving school, he entered the Academy at Hoxton. 
On the dissolution of that institution, Mr. Rowe and others of 
the students entered themselves of the new Dissenting College 
which was finally established at Hackney. But though the 
name of Mr. Rowe stands first in the Matriculation Book of the 
College, where he is recorded as having entered, September, 
1786, and left, June, 1787, he never resided within its walls. 
The students, during this session, boarded themselves in or near 
London, and attended the lectures of the professors in Dr. 
Williams's Library, the use of which was liberally granted by 
the Trustees for this object, as it has been for various other 
purposes involving the general interests of Protestant Dis- 
senters. In this year Mr. Rowe officiated occasionally for Dr. 
Kippis, and at the afternoon service of the Gravel-Pit Meeting, 
Hackney. On the completion of his education he accepted a 
cordial and unanimous invitation to become one of the ministers 
of the congregation assembling in High Street, Shrewsbury. 
On the death of Mr. Fownes, who had officiated there forty- 

k2 



132 



BRISTOL. 



one years, Mr. Rowe was chosen sole minister; and in this 
capacity he remained till 1793, when he found it necessary to 
require assistance in his public duties. The congregation applied 
to Dr. Kippis, and he recommended to them Mr. Arthur Aikin, 
who was joint minister for two years. Mr. Aikin then quitted 
the ministry and devoted himself to literary and scientific pur- 
suits, in which he has obtained much celebrity. 

Mr. Rowe's connexion with the congregation at Shrewsbury 
was in every respect happy. His public services were accept- 
able, and there were several families and many indi\T.duals of 
his flock to whom he was attached by the ties of friendship. 
The family of the Masons shewed great affection towards him ; 
he enjoyed the intimacy and confidence of Mr. Tayleur, the 
opulent and liberal supporter of free Dissenting principles ; in 
the Hughes family, at Hanwood, of whom INIrs. Mary Hughes 
was so distinguished a member, he was looked up to as a friend 
and adviser ; and when the amiable sisters changed their resi- 
dence, many years after Mr. Rowe's removal to Bristol, they 
transplanted themselves to that city, mainly for the sake of his 
society and pastoral instruction ; and one gentleman, Mr. Ser- 
jeant, accompanied him to the same place and lived in his house 
some years. 

In the year 1788 he married his couisn, ^lary, sister of 
Richard Hall Clarke, Esq., of Bridwell House, Devon. This 
connexion was the source of unfeigned happiness to both 
parties. Several children were born to them at Shrewsbury, of 
whom two died in their infancy. 

Notwithstanding the usefulness and comfort of this situation, 
he found great inconvenience in his distance from his relatives ; 
and for this as well as other reasons, he accepted an invitation 
to become one of the ministers of Le win's INIead. The mode of 
this appointment was agreeable to his best feelings. He now 
entered into a wider sphere of labour, more adequate to his 
talents and zeal. His pulpit- services were highly estimated by 
his new flock. Being free from other engagements, he de- 
voted himself with great assiduity to his pastoral duties. He 



BRISTOL. 



133 



was not only the spiritual overseer of his flock, J3ut also in many 
cases their temporal adviser, for which office he was well quali- 
fied by his wisdom and discretion. He was a liberal and active 
supporter of the charities of Bristol, in the management of some 
of which, especially of the Infirmary, he took a prominent and 
very useful part. By education and principle a friend to civil 
and religious liberty, he stood forward on many occasions to 
uphold what he regarded as the righteous cause. He gave all 
the assistance in his power to successive liberal candidates for 
the representation of the city in the House of Commons ; and 
though naturally repugnant to tumultuous assemblies, he pre- 
sented himself under a sense of duty at the "No Popery" 
meeting in 1813, and delivered a manly, argumentative speech 
against the prevailing bigotry and delusion. This speech, 
though unavailing for the moment, had no doubt some influence 
in bringing over his fellow- citizens to more Christian principles 
and more generous feelings. * 

Mr. Rowe's style of preaching was plain and practical; his 
enunciation distinct and emphatic ; his manner serious, earnest, 
and impressive. He considered it to be the peculiar advantage 
of Dissenting ministers that they are at liberty to take occasion 
of passing events in their prayers as well as sermons, in order 
to fix attention upon the ways of Divine Providence ; and he 
frequently made a judicious and pious use of afflictive and other 
events within the circle of the congregation. 

From his youth he was a decided Unitarian. He was one of 
the first members of the Western Unitarian Society, and con- 
tinued his support of this institution, according to its original 
basis, as long as he lived. His religious opinions were not in 
other respects peculiar, unless we may add that he espoused the 
middle scheme on the subject of future punishment, namely, that 
the finally impenitent will be in the end destroyed. For this 
doctrine, especially as distinguished from that of the final resti- 
tution of the vficked, which was received by the greater part of 

* See this excellent speech in Mon. Rcpos., O. S., Vol. viii. p. 137. 



134 



BRISTOL. 



his contemporary Unitarian brethren, at one period of his life he 
manifested a degree of zeal which some of his friends judged to 
be disproportionate to its real importance. 

It was the will of Heaven that Mr. Rowe should be tried bj 
successive heavy afflictions. In 1823 he lost a brother, Mr. 
Lawrence Rowe, of Brentford, for whom he had a strong affec- 
tion. He sustained a more bitter trial in 1825 bj the decease 
of his beloved wife, whose character endeared her to all who 
knew her, and particularly to those that were connected with her 
by domestic ties. * His sorrows were soon after renewed and 
aggravated by the untimely decease of his only son, who died 
in Mexico, whither he had gone to fill an office in a mining 
company. Parental grief expressed and relieved itself after a 
time by a tribute to his memory, which is one of the most 
touching effusions a father's heart ever poured forth in honour 
of a son's virtues, t Another melancholy event severely tried 
Mr. Rowe's parental feelings. This was the death of his eldest 
daughter, the wife of Benjamin H. Bright, Esq. Her connexion 
in so close a relationship with this highly respected family had 
been a source of much satisfaction and joy to him, and its disso- 
lution by her untimely decease drew a cloud over some of his 
brightest prospects. 

It was now painfully e\'ident to those about him, that his 
spirits were drooping and his general health declining. He 
manifested several paralytic symptoms, and, in the month of 
January, 1831, experienced a decided seizure. This did not, 
happily, affect his mind, though it impaired his bodily strength^ 
and in this weakened state he suffered much from the cold of 
the following winter. It was recommended to him by his me- 
dical friends to try the effect of a warmer climate ; and in the 
summer of 1832 he sent in his resignation to the society at 
Le win's Mead. He thus terminated a connexion of thirty-four 

* See Two Sermons preached at Lcvvin's Mead, Oct, 16, 1825: the First 
occasioned hy the death of Mrs. Rowe. By the Rev. Robert Aspland. 
t See Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. ii. p. 567. 



BRISTOL. 



135 



years' continuance, which had been upon the whole a happy 
one, and which his people look back upon with gratitude to his 
memory for his vigilant and faithful attention to their spiritual 
and eternal interests. 

He then proceeded to pay a visit to his relations. Professor 
and Mrs. Grottanelli, at Sienna, in Italy. His daughter, the 
only survivor of eight children, of whom five died in their 
infancy, accompanied him on this, his last journey. This lady 
thus concludes an interesting account of her father's illness 
during his visits at Rome, Naples, and the Baths of Lucca : 

" After we arrived at the Baths, my father's extreme weakness 
deprived him of all hope of resuming his journey ; but the rest- 
lessness which had attended the earlier stages of his disease had 
subsided ; he was pleased with our house and the situation ; 
though generally unable to go farther, he sometimes sat for an 
hour or two in the garden. He was, too, most gratefully at- 
tached to our friends, and I am sure they will always reflect with 
pleasure on the comfort they afforded him in his latter days. 
We reached Sienna on the 19 th of May, and on the 2nd of 
July, at eleven at night, he died. He had been confined to his 
bed two days. He was sensible till within a few hours of his 
death, and had for some days been aware that his end was 
fast approaching. He was perfectly resigned and composed, and 
often spoke of his absent friends, and mentioned little remem- 
brances which he wished me to give them. He had no fresh 
seizure, nor any particular disease that would have proved fatal, 
but seemed to sink from exhaustion, and at length fell asleep. 
He was buried in the Protestant ground at Leghorn."* 



* Christian Reformer, N. S., Vol. i. p. 266. 



BATH. 



" The city of Bath has long been famous for the advantages confer- 
red upon it by nature. Of late years, art has increased its celebrity, 
by adding to its elegance ; so that, were we to name this place as one 
of the most beautiful and extraordinary cities of modern Europe, we 
should not, perhaps, be taxed with perverse partiality, or be guilty of 
injudicious encomium. Its situation and appearance are at once sin- 
gular and elegant. Placed originally in the bottom of a vale formed 
by swelling hills which rise in all directions around it, the old city did 
not for centuries extend its bounds beyond those which were first 
marked out for it by the Romans. But the salutary effects produced 
by its waters having awakened a very general attention in the early 
part of the eighteenth century, the resort of company to the city be- 
came so great as to induce some enterprising spirits to speculate in 
building. Success crowned the attempt, and gave rise to other trials 
equally fortunate, which were repeated and continued till about the 
year 1790, when the paralyzing effects of war checked them alto- 
gether ; so that, from a small town, the diameter of which did not 
much exceed three hundred yards, Bath rapidly swelled to a large 
city, stretching in different directions upwards of one mile and a half. 
Of the many streets thus added to old Bath, some climb the south- 
eastern side of Lansdown, and others spread themselves to the north- 
east, along the flat valley through which the river Avon pursues its 
winding course. A beautiful limestone, found in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood in inexhaustible quantities, furnished materials to the build- 
ers, who judiciously availed themselves of it, in constructing squares 
and crescents, parades and streets, designed and disposed for the most 
part with classical taste and elegance." — Warner. 

Population in 1811,-38,408; in 1821,-46,700; in 1831,-50,802. 



TRIM STREET CHAPEL.* 



Many ministers were ejected from Bath and the 
neighbouring villages by the Act of Uniformity. 
Twenty-six years^, however^ elapsed before the cir- 
cumstances in which the Dissenters of this city were 
placed allowed of their having a place of public 
worship and a permanent ministry. 

Among the ejected ministers who lived here after 
1662, were Mr. Long, of Bath; Mr. Green, his 
assistant; Mr. Baker, of Bath, afterwards Master of 
the Grammar School ; Mr. Bodin, of Wotton-under- 
Edge; Mr. Philips, of Sherborne; Mr. Afflatt, of 
Glutton ; and Mr. Crees, of Combhay. We do not 
learn that either of these filled the office of Pastor 
of a Dissenting congregation, though it is probable 
that most of them contributed by private preaching 
and conversation to excite and keep alive a deep 
interest in religion, and a high estimation of the 
rights of conscience. 

The first settled minister was Mr. Christopher 
Taylor, who was appointed to the office about the 

* This street derived its name from Alderman Tryme, who lived in it 
many years ago, and to whom part of it belonged. It was originally called 
Tryme Street. 



BATH. 



139 



year 1688. It has been said that, at this time, the 
congregation met in a shear-shop, Bath being then 
a clothing town. In 1692, they removed to a 
meeting-house which they had built in a place then 
called Frog Lane, now New Bond Street. About 
this time Dr. Coleman became their minister, pro- 
bably as an assistant to Mr. Taylor ; and under the 
care of these gentlemen the congregation increased. 
The earliest register of baptisms is by Dr. Bennet 
Stevenson, who was minister from 1719 to 1756, 
and baptized 343 children, whose parents were 
chiefly farmers, tradesmen, and labourers. Many 
of these persons lived at the villages of Bath-ford, 
Bath-wick, Bath-easton, Bradford, English-coombe, 
Grreenway, Marshfield, Mountain-coombe, Oddown, 
Southstoke, Twerton, and Weston. The ministry 
of Dr. Stevenson was also attended by several per- 
sons of rank and property, particularly by Lady 
Levett, the widow of Sir Eichard Levett, Alderman 
of London, and who bequeathed* books to the 
value of <^30. for the use of the minister of the 
congregation and his successors. The Trustees 
have been accustomed, in compliance with a clause 
in the will, to pay the amount in money to each 
minister on his election, and to receive it again on 
his resignation or death. One of the executors was 
Mr. Howse, whose son and grandson have succes- 

* The will is dated Oct. 7, 1722, and provides particularly against any 
claim being set up by the Established Church. Lady Levett's high repu- 
tation as an enemy to ecclesiastical usurpation is acknowledged in Dr. 
Calamy's dedication to her of one of his sermons. 



140 BATH. 

sively inherited this simple trust. There is no 
other endowment. 

Of the life and ministry of Dr. Stevenson I have 
been able to obtain only a few particulars. He was 
settled at Sidmouth before he became the minister 
of this congregation. Some of the present members 
have heard him represented as a fluent and very 
animated preacher. The large size of the congre- 
gation in his time^ and the circumstance that many 
of the poorer classes were his hearers^ may be partly 
attributed to his preaching extempore. Tradition 
also speaks of the good Doctor as a vehement 
cushion-thumper. He had a large family ; several 
of his grandchildren are still living, and are useful 
members of various Unitarian congregations. Dr. 
Stevenson died in Bath universally lamented, March 
23, 1756, and was succeeded in the pastoral office 
by Mr. John Frank.* Mr. Frank is said to have 
been educated either at the Taunton or Bridgwater 
Academy. f He was chosen assistant to Dr. Ste- 
venson in 1753, succeeded him on his death, and 
remained at Bath till his own death in 1780. The 
congregation continued to prosper under his care, 
and he was greatly respected by Christians of all 

* This gentleman had heen Dr. Stevenson's assistant, and preached his 
funeral sermon. " For a few years," he says, " as a son with the father I 
have served with him in the Gospel. And a father he was indeed, worthy 
of being honoured as the guide of my youth, whose counsels were dictated 
equally by wisdom and aflfection." This interesting sermon is entitled, 
" Tlie character and blessedness of those who die in the Lord." Nothing 
can be more pleasing than the allusions to the harmony and love which 
subsisted among the author, the deceased, and the congregation." 

t Pri\ atc information by a nephew of Mr. Frank. 



BATH. 



141 



denominations for his talents, his gentlemanly 
manners, and his benevolent spirit. Mr. Frank 
was followed by Mr. Edward Armstrong, of whose 
death there is a short notice in the Protestant Dis- 
senters' Magazine.* He was minister of the con- 
gregation from 1780 to 1789 ; he was then obliged 
to resign the charge on account of infirmities ; buti 
he appears to have survived seven or eight years. 
He was much esteemed, not only by his own people, 
but by many other inhabitants of the city. By his- 
aid several excellent charitable institutions obtained 
large pecuniary support and were placed on a liberal 
and permanent basis. Before he commenced his 
ministry in Bath, a gradual change had been, 
wrought in the character of the congregation, so 
that the majority became composed of the rich 
rather than the poor. This circumstance is to be 
regretted whenever or wherever it occurs ; it gene- 
rally indicates, if not the preaching of some other 
gospel" than that which was preached by the. 
Saviour of mankind, yet an inattention to the deep- 
est wants of human nature, and to that beautiful 
characteristic of Christianity — its adaptation to men 
of all classes and capacities. With reference, how- 
ever, to the Bath congregation, great allowances 
were to be made: about the middle and at the close 
of the last century, large additions were made every 
year to the educated and highly refined population 
of the city ; the increased attendance of such per- 
sons at the Presbyterian chapel naturally encouraged 

* Vol. iv. p. 120. 



142 



BATH. 



its minister to adopt a more intellectual style of 
preaching; such a style might perhaps have been 
skilfully accommodated to the understandings of 
the poor, but it was not ; and that large and useful 
class were obliged to go where they could be both 
interested and improved. 

Several new religious societies were formed in 
Bath in the course of the last century. A secession 
from the Presbyterians seems to have taken place 
as early as 1726. In that year Mr. Henry Dolling, 
a Baptist, yet a Trustee of the meeting-house, united 
with a few other Baptists and licensed his house 
in Widcombe for public worship. But it was 
nearly thirty years before the new church consisted 
of fifty members, and prior to this period a small 
body of Quakers were for a long time the only other 
Dissenters in Bath. The register of baptisms, kept 
by Mr. Frank from the death of Dr. Stevenson in 
1756 till 1780, leads to the conclusion that the con- 
gregation was nearly as large during the greater 
part of this interval as it had ever been. It was 
about the middle of the century that those efforts 
were made which, if they did not at once dimin- 
ish the Presbyterian interest so much as might 
be expected, tended in a great degree to prevent 
its subsequent growth. Mr. Wesley visited Bath 
in 1738, and laid the foundation of the large con- 
gregation now assembling in the spacious chapel 
in New King Street. In the year 1752, Mr. Cen- 
nick and other ministers of the Bristol and Kings- 
wood Moravian society formed a church of that 



BATH. 



143 



denomination in this city. About twelve years 
afterwards came Lady Huntingdon and gave orders 
for the erection of a chapel at her own expense, 
which was in due time opened by the Eev. G. 
Whitfield. From the large congregation meeting 
in that place sprang another, whose origin as well 
as system of church government well entitle it to 
the appellation Independent. Lady Huntingdon 
being offended by the introduction of several lay 
ministers into her pulpits, gave notice that they 
should no longer officiate, and that especial care 
should be taken to exclude Eowland Hill and 
Torial Joss. In consequence of this notice, which 
was read by the preacher of her chapel at the Vine- 
yards, in 1779, sixteen members withdrew, and 
commenced the formation of the very numerous and 
respectable society of which Mr. Jay is the present 
minister.* Besides the congregations already men- 
tioned, there are now in the city of Bath two of the 
Baptist denomination ; one of the Methodist, meet- 
ing in a handsome chapel, with the simple and 
scriptural inscription, Deo Sacrum; two of the 
Roman Catholic, exclusive of that connected with 
the magnificent establishment at Prior Park ; and 
eighteen of the Church of England. 

When it is remembered that, in many of the 
churches and chapels occupied by these societies, 
there have been zealous and popular preachers, it 
cannot be a source of surprise that the Presbyterian 

* Life of the Rev. Mr. Porter, of Bath, by the Rev. Mr. Cater. 



144 



BATH. 



congregation was gradually diminished. It should 
also be remembered that its ministers^ obedient to 
the dictates of their consciences, introduced Arian 
and Unitarian sentiments, and thereby deterred 
many from becoming their hearers who would 
otherwise have done so, on the principles of Pro- 
testant Dissent. This society, however, was long 
respectable for its numbers, and included several 
individuals distinguished not only by their opulence 
and station in society, but also by professional skill, 
literary reputation, and high moral worth. Among 
those who attended the chapel during the ministry of 
Mr. Broadhurst, was Sir Eobert Clayton, Bart., the 
author of several well-known works. For many 
years Dr. Cogan and the Bev. John Simpson, whose 
memories are revered by all who have studied their 
writings, were constant and zealous worshipers here. 
Dr. Parry, the father of the celebrated Arctic navi- 
gator, and his family, were connected with the con- 
gregation. So was the late Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, 
whose name often appears as the chairman of the 
meetings, and the baptisms of whose children, with 
one or two exceptions, are recorded in the register. 
Names, now fast becoming still more unknown 
among Dissenters, — witness Mr. Twiss, father of 
Mr. Horace Twiss, M. P., and Lord Carrington, are 
found in the lists of members. And not a few 
Presbyterian ministers, after finishing their public 
labours in other places, have come hither, as did 
their predecessors the ejected ministers, some in 
consequence of ill health, and others to eujoy the 



BATH. 



society and scenery of this noble city. The follow* 
ing may be mentioned : 

The Eev. William Billingsley^ here in 1772. 

The Eev. Malachi Blake, from 1772 to 1780. 

The Rev. David Evans lived here, and went to 
and from Marshfield, where his congregation met, 
every Sunday. 

The Rev. John Simpson, from 1791 till his 
death, 1813. 

The Rev. Edmund Butcher, from 1821 till his 
death, 1822. 

The Rev. Theophilus Browne, from 1823 till 
his death, 1835. 

The Rev. Thomas Watson came to reside here in 
1804. 

The Rev. Thomas Broadhurst has resided here 
since he resigned his office of pastor, in 1809. 

In the year 1795, the congregation found it ne- 
cessary to relinquish their old meeting-house in 
Frog Lane and erect the present building. The 
expense of this undertaking, including the purchase 
of the ground, amounted to nearly £2500., and the 
whole, with the exception of about <^200., which 
was contributed by friends at a distance, was de- 
frayed by the congregation. The largest contributor 
was H. E. Howse, Esq., who gave altogether nearly 
£4iOO. To him the congregation are also indebted 
for their picturesque burial-ground, situated at 
Lyncomb, about a mile from the city, and present- 
ed in the year 1819. Here is a small chapel, in 

L 



146 



BATH. 



which the funeral services are conducted ; and here 
rest the remains of many excellent worshipers. One 
of the first interments was that of a very aged man, 
with whose form many are familiar, as the original 
of the popular painting called The Woodman " ; 
he was a long time in the service of Mr. Howse as 
a gardener ; the painting was executed by Mr. Bar- 
ker, an eminent artist at Bath. But we have wan- 
dered from the chapel ; as many would gladly do 
who know the difference between Trim Street and 
Lyncomb. Yet the situation is central; on one 
side and within a short distance are Queen Square 
and several handsome streets ; but the nearest 
streets are very uninviting. The building is oblong ; 
it is too lofty, there being only one gallery. In this 
gallery there is an organ ; and under it, near one of 
the entrances, a book-case with the Chapel Library. 
At the entrance from Trim Street is a vestry. 
The interior of the chapel has lately assumed an 
air of great comfort and neatness. The pews and 
gallery have been painted in imitation of oak, and 
the light through the windows over the pulpit has 
been softened by the introduction of ground and 
coloured glass. Two handsome marble tablets have 
also been erected with the following inscriptions : 

In memory of 
Henry Edward Howse, Esq., 
Nine years Chamberlain of this city. 
He was 

a kind friend to the poor, the ignorant, and the afflicted; 
A generous contributor to the erection of this chapel; 



BATH. 



147 



A ZEALOUS FRIEND TO THE DIFFUSION, 
AND 

A FAITHFUL WITNESS TO THE EFFICACY, 
OF UNCORRUPTED CHRISTIANITY. 

}Ie DIED Dec. 5, 1834, aged 82 ; and his remains 

WERE interred AT LyNCOMB, IN A CEMETERY PRESENTED 
BY HIM TO THIS CONGREGATION. 

"In SIMPLICITY AND GODLY SINCERITY, NOT WITH FLESHLY WISDOM, 
BUT BY THE GRACE OF GoD, 
I HAVE HAD MY CONVERSATION IN THE WORLD." 

In THE CEMETERY 

belonging to this congregation 
are interred the remains of 
The Rev. Theophilus Browne, m. a., 

FORMERLY FeLLOW OF St. PeTER^S ColLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 
AND AFTERWARDS ReCTOR OF HiNTON, IN THE SAME COUNTY. 
An EARNEST STUDY OF THE SACRED ScRIPTURES LED HIM 

TO LEAVE THE ChURCH OF ENGLAND, 
AND BECOME A MINISTER AMONG UNITARIAN CHRISTIANS, 
WHICH OFFICE HE FILLED IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE KINGDOM. 

He DIED May 20, 1835, aged 72. 

In THE SAME TOMB ARE INTERRED THE REMAINS OF 

Ann, wife of the above, 
WHO died December 25, 1834, aged 75. 

"Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will i also 
confess before my Father which is in heaven." 

A few years before the meeting-house in Frog 
Lane was taken down, an interesting service was 
conducted within its walls, at the ordination of Mr. 
David Jardine. This gentleman had officiated a 
short time at Warwick, when the congregation 
invited him to succeed Mr. Armstrong, Mr, 

L 2 



148 



BATH. 



afterwards Dr.) Estlin delivered the sermon^ Mr. 
Wright the address on the design of ordination^ 
and Mr. Belsham the charge ; the whole service^ 
including Mr. Jardine's replies^ was puhlished. 
This is a valuahle pamphlet; it presents a fair 
specimen of the tone of thinking and the plan of 
teaching adopted by the ministers of the Presbyte- 
rian congregations of that period; the replies of Mr. 
Jardine are especially to be admired for the inde- 
pendent yet truly Christian spirit which they 
breathe. The Trustees of the meeting-house^ or^ 
as it was then called^ in the title-page of the ordi- 
nation-service — the Unitarian chapeh testified their 
sense of the value of Mr. Belsham's assistance, by 
presenting him with a silver inkstand, a mark of 
respect with which he was highly gratified. 

Three years after the settlement of Mr. Jardine, 
several members of the congregation expressed a 
wish to adopt a Liturgy. Their minister cordially 
agreeing with them, the subject was taken into con- 
sideration at several meetings, and at length a ma- 
jority declared in favour of the alteration. So 
strong, however, were the objections of the minority, 
and so decidedly were those objections expressed 
after the division, that the carrying the resolution 
into effect would have been attended with many un- 
pleasant circumstances, and the advocates of a 
Liturgy yielded. 

In the year 1797, Mr. Jardine was suddenly re- 
moved from his earthly scenes of usefulness. The 
congregation then invited Mr. Thomas Broadhurst, 



BATH. 



149 



who had been first a pupil and afterwards assistant 
tutor at the New College, Hackney. Before he 
accepted the invitation from Bath, he officiated suc- 
cessively at Halifax and Taunton. Mr. Broadhurst 
was the minister of this society about eleven years, 
during which period the number and character of 
its members were such as to command general re- 
spect. They continued to manifest, on all proper 
occasions, a lively interest not only in the progress 
of religious truth, but also in the advancement of 
objects for promoting the temporal welfare of man- 
kind. The Unitarians have been for many years 
the only Dissenting society in Bath who make col- 
lections twice every year for the two Hospitals in the 
city. I may here mention that Dr. Bennet Steven- 
son took an active part in establishing one of these 
excellent institutions — the Bath Hospital — which 
receives from all parts of the kingdom patients who 
require the use of the Bath waters. His name was 
inserted in the Act of Parliament as one of the 
earliest officers, and his successors in the Presbyte- 
rian congregation have regularly inherited, sanc- 
tioned by the usual votes at the General Meetings, 
the honour thus conferred upon him. 

When Mr. Broadhurst relinquished his office of 
Pastor, the congregation elected Mr. Joseph Hunter. 
This gentleman was educated at the Manchester 
College, York; his views of the most important 
subjects of human inquiry are stated in several dis- 
courses published during his residence in Bath. 
Here he distinguished himself by giving to the 



150 



BATH. 



world the fruits of his antiquarian researches, and 
by promoting the establishment of the Literary 
Institution, of which he was a highly valuable 
member. Mr, Hunter quitted Bath in June 1833, 
to enter upon the office of Commissioner of Public 
Records, to which another has been added in con- 
nexion with the British Museum. — I have now only 
to remark that the congregation is gradually increas- 
ing ; several institutions have arisen which may be 
regarded as particularly useful in giving a right 
direction to the sympathies and energies of the 
younger members; and hopes are entertained that, 
under the blessing of Almighty God, the society 
will continue to improve in numbers, in piety, in 
active usefulness, in all goodness. 



Christopher Taylor o 1688—1699. 

Benjamin Colkman, D.D 1692—1700. 

Henry Chandler 1700 — 1719. 

Bennet Stevenson, D.D 1719 — 1756. 

John Frank 1753 — 1780. 

Edward Armstrong 1780 — 1789. 

David Jardine 1789 — 1797. 

Thomas Broadhurst 1797—1809. 

Joseph Hunter, F.A.S 1809—1833. 

Jkrom Murch 1833. 



BATH. 



151 



Mr, Christopher Taylor was bom at Taunton, and edu- 
cated for the ministry in that town by Mr. Matthew Warren. 
Haying been ordained at Lyme, together with seven others, in 
1687, he was recommended by some senior ministers to fill an 
important station at Bath. Here he met at first with much op- 
position ; but by his solid preaching and prudent conduct he 
afterwards acquired great esteem, both by those who attended 
his ministry, and others in the Church of England. He left 
Bath in 1699, to become pastor of the congregation in Leather 
Lane, London, where he remained with much satisfaction to 
his hearers until within a short period of his death in 1723. 
Mr. Joshua Bayes, who preached his funeral sermon, speaks 
very highly of his qualifications for the ministry and of the 
manner in which he discharged its duties, and represents him 
as a warm, active friend to the cause of Protestant Dissent. Mr. 
Taylor published two sermons : one upon the thanksgiving for 
the union with Scotland, May 1, 1707 ; the other on the death 
of Mr. John Hind, Nov. 6, 1704 ; and he drew up a Latin epi- 
taph for his tutor, Mr. Warren.* 

Dr. Coleman was a native of New England. He received 
his education in Harvard College, where he graduated in 1692, 
being then only twenty years of age. Soon afterwards he took 
a voyage to England, was ordained in London, and entered im- 
mediately on his office at Bath. Here, however, he appears to 
have been only the colleague of Mr. Taylor, and to have re- 
mained no longer than eight years, at the expiration of which 
he was chosen first minister of a large congregation in Brattle 
Street, Boston, U. S. There he laboured with equal diligence till 
he attained the age of seventy-three, when he died, "leaving a 
reputation (to use the words of a contemporary) which will be 
dear to his country as long as zeal for the interests of sacred 

* Further particulars of Mr. Taylor's character may be seen in Toulmin's 
Hist, of Prot. Diss., Appendix, p. 569. 



152 



BATH. 



literature and the conversion of the Indian nations shall be held 
in due esteem." He distiaguished himself not only as a pro- 
found scholar, a deeply impressive preacher, and a gentleman 
of the most polite and Christian bearing, but also by his public 
pliilanthropic efforts, among which was the publication of a 
treatise ; reprinted in England by Mr. Daniel Neal, designed to 
recommend inoculation for the small-pox. The life of Dr. 
Coleman was written by his son-in-law, the Rev. IVIr. Turrell, 
and published in an 8vo. volume in 1749 ; of his talents as a 
preacher, the curious may form an opinion from a printed volume 
of his sermons on sacramental occasions, published at Boston, 
N. E., 1728.* 

Mr. Chandler was the son of a respectable tradesman at 
Taunton, who suffered severe persecution in the reign of Charles 
II. Inheriting his father's attachment to the cause of Protestant 
Dissent, he began his ministry towards the close of the same 
reign — a time of peculiar difficulty and discouragement. He 
had been prepared for his office first in the grammar-school of 
his native town, and afterwards in the academy of Mr. Doohttle, 
at Islington. Prior to his settlement at Bath, he preached suc- 
cessively at INIalmesbury, in Wiltshire ; Huugerford, in Berk- 
shire ; and Coleford, in Somersetshire ; but only remained a 
short time in each place. His first publication consisted of two 
practical sermons delivered in Bath about the year 1705, one of 
which is introduced with expressions of gratitude to a Mr. 
Adams, of London, who was very generous to the author and 
gave him a library. In 1713, Mr. Chandler published a charge 
delivered at Gloucester at the ordination of Mr. Denham, whom 
he exhorts "to preach intelligibly'" — "good sense backed with 
strong scripture argument" — "for (he says) we can neither be 
directed nor entertained by what we do not understand.*' Soon 
afterwards, he entered the lists with Mr. Thomas Carte the his- 
torian, a noted Jacobite and reader at the Abbey Church, in 



Communicated by Mi . Wilson. 



BATH. 



153 



consequence of a sermon preached by Mr. Carte in vindication 
of Charles 11. from certain charges relating to the Irish Rebel- 
lion. x\fter sustaining the character of an able and faithful 
minister of Christ forty years, nineteen of which were spent in 
Bath, Mr. Chandler entered into his rest, leaving three children : 
Mrs. Mary Chandler, the author of several poems ; Dr. Samuel 
Chandler, the celebrated minister at the Old Jewry ; and Mr. 
John Chandler, an eminent apothecary in King Street, Cheap- 
side. 



Mr. David Jardine was born in the year 1766, at Aber- 
gavenny. His father was a Dissenting Minister in that town, 
and the tutor of an A.C!xdemy for training young men for the 
same profession. He was educated first by his father and Dr. 
Davies, another tutor in the Academy at x\berga\'enny, and 
subsequently at Homerton, where he saw reason to renounce the 
Calvinistic opinions of his family and adopt the Unitarian ones 
of Dr. Priestley. This having rendered him obnoxious to his 
tutors, he was removed to Daventry, and finished his studies 
under the Rev. T. Belsham, who delivered the charge at his or- 
dination at Bath. In the same year Mr. Jardine accepted an 
invitation from Warwick, and spent a few months in that town 
much respected. A desire to be near his brother, Dr. Lewis 
Jardine, then of Bristol, afterwards of America, now induced 
him to remove to Bath. That his ministerial talents were highly 
estimated and his religious principles very decided, may be in- 
ferred from the fact that, in the following year, he received an 
invitation to be co-pastor with Dr. Priestley at Birmingham, 
which, however, he declined. In the year 1793, he married the 
eldest daughter of George Webster, Esq., of Hampstead, and 
soon afterwards took a small estate at Pickwick, about seven 
miles from Bath, where he resided during the week, and added 
to his literary labours those of agriculture. Both, however, 
were soon terminated. On Sunday, March 5, 1797, he preach- 
ed twice and administered the Lord's Supper. On the following 



154 



BATH. 



Friday, as he was walking in Es fields, lie was seized with a fit 
of apoplexy and conveyed speechless to his house, where he ex- 
pired the same evening. Thus suddenly, and, to human ap- 
pearance, prematurely, did Providence see fit to take a man 
who possessed most of the best qualifications of a minister of 
the gospel, and who, during his short career, did much to defend 
and draw attention to the doctrines of Unitarian Christianity. 
Mr. Jardine published three pamphlets : 1 . A Declaration at his 
Ordination. 2. Three Discourses on the Redemption of the 
World by Jesus Christ ; with an Appendix on the doctrine of 
the Atonement and the importance of having right sentiments 
in Religion. 3. A Reply to the Rev. John Simpson on the 
subject of Religious Fasts. After his death, two volumes of his 
sermons were published by Dr. Estlin, of Bristol, and dedicated 
to their mutual friend, B. Hobhouse, Esq., M. P., afterwards 
Sir B. Hobhouse, Bart. Prefixed to these sermons is a memoir 
by the editor, from which the above particulars are taken. Mr. 
Jardine left a son and two daughters ; the former resides near 
London, and is well known as a member of the legal profession 
and a valuable promoter of various important undertakings. 



ASH WICK. 



AsHWiCK lies on the borders of tlie Mendip Hills, about 3 miles 
from Shepton Mallet. It long supplied tlie city of Bath and the sur- 
rounding district with Coals, which are still dug in the neighbourhood. 
It was also noted for its manufacture of hosiery until the extensive 
introduction of machinery, and the consequent diminution of manual 
labour in small places. The houses are widely scattered ; part of the 
hamlet of Oakhill lies in the parish, and is remarkable for a good 
house standing in a romantic situation, and built by J. Billingsley, 
Esq., a member of the Presbyterian congregation. 



OLD MEETING. 



The early history of Nonconformity, in retired 
places, excites more than common admiration. In 
populous towns, we are not surprised to ohserve a 
spirit of earnest inquiry and Christian freedom. 
There, ministers of superior talent and liberality 
were generally stationed ; and the odium they incur- 
red, by thinking for themselves, was shared by 
many. But the inhabitants of obscure villages, 
though often blessed with pastors of learning and 
piety were, in most cases, few in number, compara- 
tively uncultivated, and placed in awe of country 
justices and the owners of the soil. Amidst these 
discouraging circumstances we see minds determin- 
ed to be free ; and the interest of the spectacle is not 
unfrequently heightened by the scenes in which the 
struggles were made. At this period the triumphs 
of faith were generally achieved, not in the "^^busy 
haunts of men," but in the depth of a beautiful 
valley or beneath the shelter of a friendly wood. 
Even here the persecuted Nonconformists were un- 
safe ; so often were they interrupted in their devo- 
tions that they at length fancied every rustling of 
the leaves to be the sound of the footsteps of their 



ASHWICK. 



157 



enemies; at the slightest sign of disturbance the 
preacher lowered his voice^ and^ together with his 
hearers^ began to suffer in imagination from the 
rude hands of the constable, the arbitrary questions 
of the magistrate, and the noisome air of the county 
gaol. 

Such sights are presented by the scanty accounts 
of Nonconformity at Ashwick. The first pastor of 
whom we know any thing is Mr. Nicholas Billings- 
ley, the son of an ejected minister. He probably 
settled at Ashwick soon after the passing of the 
Toleration Act. In the reigns of Charles IL and 
James 11., the Nonconformists of the neighbour- 
hood, including Shepton Mallet, assembled, in 
retired houses, or, when the weather permitted, in 
an adjoining wood.* They, however, fared better 
than others. Their intolerant enemies, the inform- 
ers, were kept at a distance by the steady and 
determined courage of a number of hardy colliers 
who worked in the neighbourhood, and sometimes 
attended the meeting.-]- About the time of the Revo- 
lution they opened a place of worship at Downside, 
about a mile from Ashwick, towards Bath, and 
there they assembled till 1696, when they formed 
themselves into separate societies. Those of Ash- 
wick fitted up a house in their own parish, and 
those of Shepton erected a chapel in the town. 

The Ashwick division soon became numerous. 
About the year 1703, they built a place of worship 
in which they assembled upwards of 50 years.. 

* Nightingale's History of Somersetshire. f P. D. M. iv. 364. 



158 



ASHWICK. 



During that period the congregation consisted 
chiefly of colliers and hosiers^ and was not without 
a fair proportion of well cultivated minds. An 
anecdote is related, which shews that they possessed 
both earnestness and integrity with regard to religi- 
ous matters. Soon after Mr. James Pierce, of 
Exeter, gave an impulse to inquiry by his spirited 
conduct, Mr. Billingsley, the pastor at Ashwick, 
avowed himself a convert to his opinions. The 
congregation were disappointed and grieved. Fully 
convinced of the truth of the sentiments in which 
they had been educated, they requested Mr. Billings- 
ley to retire and allow them to choose another 
minister. He complied, but admonished them to 
search the Scriptures once more for the purpose of 
examining calmly and impartiality the grounds of 
their faith. This admonition they attended to, 
while they were deliberating on the choice of a new 
pastor, and the result was, they also embraced 
Arian views of the gospel, and went back to their 
faithful minister. 

It was during his ministry that Mr. (afterwards 
Dr.) James Foster came to the neighbourhood. He, 
also, was one of those who had been led by Mr. 
Pierce's writings and his own study of the Scrip- 
tures, to side with the heterodox party ; but 
his pastoral advice was not so successful as that 
of Mr. Billingsley. His sentiments had rendered 
him so obnoxious, at Milbourn Port, where he was 
the pastor of a congregation, that he was obliged 
to seek an asylum in the house of his friend under 



ASHWICK. 



159 



the Mendip Hills. Anxious to be useful without 
concealing his convictions, Mr. Foster was accus- 
tomed, while residing in this obscure but hospitable 
retreat, to preach to two plain congregations in the 
neighbourhood, one at Coleford, the other at Wokey, 
which, together, raised him only ^15. per annum! 
Some of his best works were composed in an old 
summer house, almost covered with ivy, on the 
property of J. Billingsley, Esq., who, some years 
afterwards, caused a small stone with the following 
inscription to be placed in the building. 

"Sacred to the memory of the celebrated James Foster, 
d.d., who in this humble and retired mansion, secluded 
from the fury of bigots and the cares of a busy world, 
spent several years ; and composed many of those excel- 
lent discourses on natural religion and social virtue, 

(with the annexed OFFICES OF DEVOTION,) WHICH HAVE BEEN 
READ WITH UNIVERSAL ADMIRATION DURING THE LAST AND 
PRESENT AGES ; AND WHICH, WHILE THEY EXHIBIT TO POSTERITY 
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES AND 
IMPORTANT DUTIES OF HUMAN LIFE, WILL IMMORTALIZE THE 
NAME AND MEMORY OF THEIR LEARNED AND PIOUS AUTHOR."* 

* Collinson's History of Somersetshire, ii. 449. Dr. Foster removed 
from Ashwick to Trowbridge, in Wilts, where he adopted the practice of 
Adult Bapitism. There, his circumstances were so low, that he had seri- 
ous thoughts of quitting the ministry and learning the trade of a glover. 
From doing this he was saved by the unexpected generosity of a gentle- 
man in the neighbourhood, who took him into his house as Chaplain. 
And a few years afterwards we find him, as one of the Lecturers at the 
Old Jewry, enjoying unexampled popularity, attracting a confluence of 
persons of every rank, station and quality, and giving occasion to the well 
known lines of Pope — 

" Let modest Foster, Lf he will, excel 
Ten Metropolitans in preaching well." 

An interesting memoir of Dr. Foster may be seen in a valuable collec- 
tion of tracts by the Rev. Jared Sparks, an American minister, who has 
done much, in many ways, towards enriching the literature of his country. 



160 



ASHWICK. 



The congregation at Ashwick long remained 
numerous and respectable. The descendants of Mr. 
Billingsley were efficient co-operators with his suc- 
cessor — Mr. David Lewis. About the year 1758, 
when this gentleman removed to Frenchay, and 
Mr. Evan Herbert was chosen to succeed him, the 
society resolved to erect a new chapel. The old 
structure was falling into decay ; they held it by a 
precarious tenure ; and they were desirous of having 
a place more in the centre of the congregation, and 
thus suiting the convenience of many persons from 
adjoining parishes. Accordingly they sold the old 
building, which was converted into cottages, and 
erected another in the same parish, half a mile 
nearer those parts from which most of the people 
came to worship. This chapel has two galleries, 
one for women and another for men, and adjoining 
it is a burial ground. In 1783, Mr. Herbert re- 
tired, and three years afterwards died at Ashwick. 
He was educated at Carmarthen, settled first at 
Wrington and then at Stalbridge. His successor 
was Mr. King, who only remained a short time, 
and was followed by the present minister, Mr. John 
Evans. The congregation then consisted of nearly 
two hundred persons ; — but they are described as 
chiefly mere hearers, who attended without any 
fixed opinions, and because there was no service at 
convenient hours in the churches in the neighbour- 
hood. Consequently, when Methodism was gene- 
rally known in the district, and a chapel erected in 
almost every village ; when, also, the Bishop of the 



ASHWICK. 



161 



diocese was enabled, by augmentations of the livings 
from Queen Anne's Bounty, to obtain service twice 
a day in the churches, the number of Mr. Evans's 
''^hearers" diminished. For many years he has 
only been encouraged to persevere by the attend- 
ance and support of a few who are attached to their 
views of the gospel from principle as well as early 
associations, and who, if they see no prospect of a 
revival of the congregation in their time, may, at 
least, be consoled by remembering that they have 
adhered to it through evil report and through good 
report. 



NiCHOLAS BlLLINGSLEY j710 — 1740, 

David Lewis 1740 — 1757. 

Evan Herbert 1758—1783 

King* 1783— 1784„ 

John Evans 1784. 



Nicholas Billingsley was the younger son of a minis- 
ter of the same name, who was ejected bj the Act of Uniformity 
from the living at Weobley, in Herefordshire. I have not been 
able to ascertain any particulars concerning his education, early 
settlement, and death. It appears, that, in addition to his ser- 
mon on the death of Mr. Stogdon, he published a sermon, 
preached at Frome, in 1716, at the ordination of Dr. Thomas 

* Mr. King was educated at Hackney, and removed from Ashwick to 
Bandon, in Ireland. Mr. Evans was educated at Carmarthen, and settled 
at Ilfracombe before his removal to Ashwick. 



M 



162 



ASHWICK. 



Morgan, author of The Moral Philosopher." The spirit which 
these productions breathe, the charitable and truly Christian 
sentiments they express, are in accordance with the general 
tenor of this good man's life, and will ensure for his memory the 
respect of many who have realized the promise, — " Ye shall 
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The fol- 
lowing passage is a specimen of his style : — 

" Let me rather die than that I should, to serve any turn of 
life, or a party, misrepresent either the principles or practices of 
any of my brethren or neighbours. Let me rather die than 
ascribe such persuasions to them as I know they constantly 
disown ; they best know their own thoughts, and have as much 
right to be believed in the professions they make as I have in 
mine." 



Hubert StoGDON. The Rev. Mr. Billingsley was also the 
means of bringing to the neighbourhood of Ashwick, Hubert 
Stogdon, another minister, whose soul "claimed kindred there," 
and whose life illustrates the history of the times in which he 
lived. After recei^g his education, successively, under a 
clergyman in Devonshire, at the free school in Exeter, and at 
Mr. Hallet's academy, he engaged in the the ministry, as Chap- 
lain, according to the forms of the Dissenters, to Sir John 
Davy, Bart., at Credy, near Crediton. At this period, about the 
year 1715, he was " thoroughly orthodox" and declared himself 
most decidedly against the opinions of Mr. Whiston and Dr. 
Clarke ; but his zeal was at all times tempered by charity, and 
a consciousness of his liability to err. " Afterwards, (says Dr. 
Toulmin in his interesting memoir),* by long and deliberate 
reading, a diligent and candid examination of both sides of the 
question, with many prayers and tears, with much fear and 
trembling, he settled into a view of the subject contrary to that 
in which he had been educated." Prior to this change, Mr. 



* M. R. iv. 58. See also Billingsley's sermon on the death of Stogdon, 
1728. 



ASHWICK. 



163 



Stogdon intended to propose himself for ordination by the Unit- 
ed Assembly of Devon and Cornwall ministers ; but the clamour 
which was meanwhile raised against him as a supposed Arian^ 
Deist or even Atheist, and the unscriptural authority exercised 
by the assembly in judging the qualifications of candidates, ren- 
dered it desirable that he should remove to a distance. It was 
at this period his excellent friend, at Ashwick, first exerted 
himself on his behalf, though he only knew him by the ill report 
of some, and the good report of a gentleman, who recommended 
the young divine to his friendship. "I was persuaded (says 
Mr. Billingsley,*) that if Mr. Stogdon came, he would have with 
me a peaceable retreat, though in an obscure comer of the 
world ; and that by a successful attempt to draw him hither, I 
might be beneficial to myself and neighbours by getting such 
an one amongst us. I knew that T should hereby incur the 
censures of many, and of some who had given me real and fre- 
quent proofs of their friendship, and very much expose myself. 
But being fully persuaded that whatever Mr. Stogdon' s particu- 
lar sentiments were, whether right or wrong, the same with 
mine or different from them, one of such a character could not 
fail of divine acceptance ; and that if I were ashamed or afraid 
to own him I should not know how to answer it another day. 
I soon determined what to do." It is then stated that Mr. 
Billingsley procured Mr. Stogdon' s settlement with a small con- 
gregation at Wokey, near Ashwick, where he continued seven 
years, for the first four of which he resided in the house of his 
generous friend. In 1718 he was ordained at Shepton Mallet. 
Even at this early period, a few candid minds entertained very 
different sentiments respecting this ceremony from those which 
prevail in the present day, "I only mean (says Mr. Billingsley) 
that he solemnly devoted himself to the sacred office in the pre- 
sence of many ministers and a great number of people ; some 
of the former assisting and leading the public devotion, whilst 
all joined in recommending the labours of the person thus de- 



Appendix to Funeral Sermon. 
M 2 



164 



ASHWICK. 



voted, to the Divine direction and blessing ; a sermon being 
preached at the same time and an exhortation given to the 
faithful discharge of the ministry then expressly and solemnly 
undertaken." Pursuing his course of free inquiry and acting 
upon his noble principles, Mr. Stogdon became convinced, 
whilst at Wokey, of the scriptural authority for i\dult Baptism, 
and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his friends who 
thought it might prejudice his interest, which was always the 
last idea in his own mind, he publicly submitted to the rite. It 
is gratifying to observe that this circumstance did not prevent 
him from being engaged by, nor from faithfully serving, a Psedo- 
baptist congregation at Trowbridge, where he happily and use- 
fully spent the remainder of his days. 



ha. 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



Shepton Mallet is situated five miles from Wells, twelve from 
Frome, and sixteen from Bath. It lies (says CoUinson) chiefly in a 
recluse valley, interrupted with winding rocky shelves and dingles. In 
the last century it was famous for its manufactures of woollen cloths 
and knit stockings, which still afford employment to many. 

Population in 1811,-4638; in 1821,-5021 ; and in 1831,-5330. 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



The foundation of the Dissenting cause in this 
town was laid in 1662. Mr. David Calderwood 
was then ejected from the living, but there is no 
account of his subsequent life and labours. The 
proceedings of the Nonconformists of the neighbour- 
hood, soon after his ejectment, are mentioned in the 
history of the Ashwick congregation. About the 
time of the Revolution the people of Shepton, in 
conjunction with their brethren at Ashwick and the 
adjoining parishes, opened a place of worship at 
Downside, and there continued to assemble until 
1696.* They then separated, in consequence of 
their increased numbers and of the distances from 
which some of them attended, and the inhabitants 
of Shepton soon afterwards erected a place of wor- 
ship in their own town, and enjoyed the services of 
Mr. John Gumming. 

The building now occupied by the congregation 
is probably the original one. There are various 
marks of antiquity about it, and several indications 
of its having been enlarged. It contains three gal- 



* Plot. Diss. Mag., iv. oGi. 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



167 



leries — one of which has always been used indis- 
criminately ; the other two were formerly appro- 
priated, in accordance with an ancient custom, one 
to women and the other to men. There are two 
burial-grounds; one is on a level with the street; 
the other, which is smaller, is reached by sixteen 
steps, and is on a level with the chapel. The inte- 
rior of the building exhibits two monuments with 
the following inscriptions : 

Near this place lie the remains of Mr. Simon Browne, 
Minister of the Gospel, a native op this town, but known 
through the nation by his writings. Portsmouth and 
London enjoyed his ministry; and when nature was op- 
pressed with so strange a disorder that he thought 
himself less than man, he attacked the boldest infidels 
of the age and triumphed in the cause of God. 
He died a. D. 1732, ^t. 52. 

To the ever -valuable memory 
OF THE Rev. Anthony Atkey, 
a late worthy pastor of this Church, 
whose solid judgment, 
great learning, 
comprehensive knowledge of Christianity, 

UNIVERSAL benevolence 
AND 

INFLEXIBLE VIRTUE, 
RENDERED HIM 
A MOST RATIONAL, AFFECTIONATE, AND USEFUL PREACHER, 
AN ABLE AND SUCCESSFUL ADVOCATE FOR THE RELIGION OF JeSUS, 

a faithful and most agreeable friend. 
The world was early deprived 
of this bright ornament 
OF Religion and Liberty, 
in the thirty-third year of his age, 
Dec. 27, 1734. 



168 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



The connexion of Mr. Browne with Shepton 
Mallet induces me to place a short notice of his 
disorder among the distinct memoirs. He received 
part of his education from Mr. Gumming, the first 
minister at Shepton. The successor of that gentle- 
man, Mr. Aycrigg, removed to Glastonbury some 
years before Mr. Browne retired to his native town. 
With the next minister, Mr. Matthew Towgood, he 
was probably intimate, as he also appears to have 
been with the fourth on our list, Mr. Anthony 
Atkey. This name appears in the list of students 
educated in the Taunton Academy, under Mr. 
Grove. Mr. Atkey preached and published a 
discourse on the death of Mr. Browne, entitled, 
''The Eectitude of Providence under the severest 
Dispensations." He also deserves to be had in re- 
spectful remembrance for the ability and zeal with 
which he appeared as an advocate for Christianity, 
in the controversy with Dr. Tindal.-|° The congre- 
gation at Shepton had reason to rejoice that some 
of the best defences of revealed religion, accom- 
panied by the most convincing arguments in favour 
of liberty of conscience, emanated from their circle. 

Until the end of the last century, this congregation 
afforded a fair specimen of the Dissenting societies 
in the West of England. Many of the members 
were enlightened and respectable manufacturers, 

* Mon. Rcpos., O. S., Vol. xiii. p. 90. 

t His object is thus expressed in the title-page of his work: "The 
main argument of a late book, entitled ' Christianity as old as the Crea- 
tion,' fairly stated and examined, or a short view of that whole contro- 
versy.'" 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



169 



possessing considerable influence in the town and 
neighbourhood. They manifested good sense in 
choosing as their instructors a succession of pious 
and liberal men^ and gratitude in profiting by their 
counsels. The latter virtue was also manifested at 
Shepton by substantial acts of generosity. The 
society have been remarkable for showing, from the 
beginning, a greater desire to promote the discharge 
of moral duties than to excite attention to those 
points on which Christians differ. This course^ 
however, has tended to lessen their numbers. As 
soon as other denominations obtained a footing in 
the town, attention to opinions was excited; it was 
at length found that the majority of those who 
attended places of worship preferred doctrinal 
preaching; and the Presbyterian congregation saw 
some of the oldest and most valuable members taken 
to their rest, without leaving others to supply their 
places. Of four of the ministers biographical no- 
tices will be given in the following pages. Mr. 
Shute, the last but one, was educated at the Exeter 
Academy, under Mr. Kenrick and Mr. Bretland. 
On leaving Ash wick, he quitted the ministry and 
engaged in business at Bristol. Mr. Evans was 
never chosen pastor of the congregation. On the 
retirement of Mr. Shute he preached as a supply; 
and in this capacity he has continued ever since, 
regularly administering the ordinances. He officiates 
in the morning at Ashwick, and in the afternoon at 
Shepton. 



170 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



David Calderwood 1662—1698. 

John Gumming, M. A 1698 — 1710. 

Benjamin Aycrigg 1710 — 1716. 

Matthew To^yGOOD 1716 — 1730. 

Anthony Atkey 1730 — 1734. 

John Sherman, M. D 173^—1754. 

William Peard Jillard 1754 — 1770. 

Benjamin Kiddel 1770—1803. 

Henry Shute , 1803—1814. 

John Evans * 1814. 



The Rev. John Gumming is supposed to have been of 
Scottish extraction. He was the uncle and father-in-law of 
Dr. Gumming, an eminent minister of the Scotch Presbyterian 
Church, London Wall. He was a learned man, and besides 
being the minister of the congregation at Shepton Mallet, filled 
the office of Tutor in that town. He published a sermon on 
Rev. ii. 2, preached before the mayor of Bridgwater and other 
members of the corporation, at a lecture established for the refor- 
mation of manners, 1699. He probably settled at Shepton soon 
after the chapel was built; his death occurred in 1710.* 



The Rev. Matthew Towgood was the grandson of a 
minister of the same name, ejected from Hilperton, Wilts., and 
first cousin to Mr. Micaijah Towgood. At one time he kept a 
seminary at Golyton, in Devonshire, where he instructed young 



* Wilson's History, Vol. ii. p. 494. 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



171 



men in classical and theological learning — an office for which 
his solid attainments well fitted him. He afterwards officiated 
at Poole, but eventually relinquished the ministry and engaged 
in a brewery. His habits of study and absence of thought, of 
which many amusing instances were related, rendered him 
unsuccessful in his new occupation. Mr. Towgood published a 
small grammatical tract, a sermon preached at Poole, " A Brief 
Dissertation on Funeral Solemnities," 1745, and "Remarks 
on the Profane and Absurd use of the monosyllable ^Damn,''' 
1746. 

John Sherman, M. D. — This gentleman received his edu- 
cation at one of the Scotch Universities, where he took the 
degree of Master of Arts. There is np account of his having 
practised as a physician, though he bore the title. He does not 
appear to have been distinguished as a minister. His first ap- 
pearance in this character was at the Presbyterian meeting- 
house in Great St. Thomas, London, where he was chosen 
assistant to the Rev. B. A. Atkinson. In 1719 he removed to 
Ware, in Hertfordshire, at which place he preached and printed 
a funeral sermon for the Rev. John Hughes, whom he succeeded 
in the pastoral office. He remained at Ware until he accepted 
the invitation at Shepton, where he died in 1754, after frequent 
illness, during which he was often obliged to apply to neigh- 
bouring ministers for assistance, and sometimes to close the 
meeting-house, to the great disadvantage of the society. It 
must be mentioned, to the honour of Dr. Sherman and that of 
the congregations who elected him, that he was one of the non- 
subscribing ministers at the Salters' Hall synod in 1719.* 

The Rev. William Peard Jillard was descended on the 
maternal side from Mr. William Bartlett and Mr. Oliver Peard, 
two of the ejected ministers. He was the son of Mr. Peter Jillard, 

* Wilson, u. 103, 



172 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



who was educated at Taunton and settled successively at Bow, 
near Crediton, Castle Lane, Exeter, Tavistock, and Castle 
Green, Bristol. W. P. Jillard was born at Tavistock, and 
removed with the rest of the family, at a very early period of 
his life, to Bristol, where his classical education was commenced 
under Mr. Fisher. He entered upon his academical studies in 
the house of Mr. Moore, at Bridgwater, on whose death he went 
to study under Dr. Latham, at Findern, in Derbyshire ; and he 
finished his course of preparation at Glasgow, under Dr. Leech- 
man. His first settlement in the pastoral office was at Shepton, 
where he preached with great acceptance seventeen or eighteen 
years. So much was he admired as a minister, and so high was 
the opinion of his learning, good sense, and piety, that more 
than one overture of preferment in the Church of England was 
made to him. The temptations to conformity thrown in his 
way were particularly strong ; and his refined taste and polite 
manners would have led him to value the advantages of a 
higher station ; but he could not be induced to swerve from the 
path of integrity. His strain of preaching was sensible, liberal, 
and practical; and yet, probably in consequence of these charac- 
teristics, towards the close of his life it was not popular. He 
removed fi:om Shepton to Bishop's Hull, near Taunton,* where 
he spent the remainder of his life, twenty-nine years, enjo;^dng 
general respect and affection. Mr. Jillard left a son and a 
daughter, to whom Dr. Toulmin dedicated the impressive dis- 
course preached by him on the death of his friend and fellow- 
labourer. 



Mr. Simon Browne. — It was while exercising the pastoral 
office at the Old Jewry, with great reputation, that Mr. Browne 
was attacked by the "strange disorder" mentioned in the in- 
scription. He imagined "that Almighty God, by a singular 
instance of divine power, had in a gradual manner annihilated 

* An interesting account of this congregation is given in a note to the 
sermon on the death of the Rev. W. P. Jillard, by Dr. Toulmin, 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



173 



in him the thinking substance, and utterly divested him of con- 
sciousness ; — that though he retained the human shape, and the 
faculty of speaking in a manner that appeared to others ra- 
tional, he had all the while no more notion of what he said than 
a parrot. And, very consistently with this, he looked upon 
himself as no longer a moral agent, a subject of reward or 
punishment."* It is singular that, having quitted the ministry 
and retired to Shepton, in consequence of this idea, though he 
could seldom be persuaded to pray, even for a blessing on his 
food, he was not only still distinguished for the performance of 
all social virtues, but even intent upon literary pursuits. For 
some time he amused himself with translating several parts of 
the ancient Greek and Latin poets into English verse. He af- 
terwards composed, for the use of children, an English grammar 
and spelling-book, an abstract of the scripture history, and a 
collection of fables. With great labour he also amassed together, 
in a short compass, all the themes of the Greek and Latin lan- 
guages, and compiled a dictionary to each of these works. Du- 
ring the two last years of his life, he published " A Disquisition 
on the Doctrine of the Trinity," " Remarks on Mr. Woolston's 
fifth discourse on the Miracles of our Saviour," and " A Reply 
to Tindal's attack on the Religion of Nature and the Christian 
Revelation." All these works were written at Shepton, with 
little assistance from books or learned conversation, and with 
the full impression that all the thinking powers had been taken 
from him ; yet they were pronounced among the best that had 
appeared on the subject. They display great extent of know- 
ledge, and uncommon argumentative powers ; and some of his 
friends were accustomed to say, " while he imagined he had no 
soul, he was so acute a disputant, that he could reason as if he 
was possessed oitwoJ" Nothing grieved Mm more than that he 
could not make his friends believe in his supposed destitution, — 
a circumstance which he thus alludes to in a suppressed dedi- 

* Atkey's funeral sermon, quoted by Wilson in an interesting memoir — 
Diss. Churches, ii. 342. 



174 



SHEPTON MALLET. 



cation of his last work to Queen Caroline : " Such a case will 
certainly strike your Majesty with astonishment, and raise that 
commiseration in your royal breast which the author has in vain 
endeavoured to excite in those of his friends ; who by the most 
unreasonable and ill-founded conceit in the world, have ima- 
gined that a thinking being could for seven years together live a 
stranger to its own powers, exercises, operations, and state, and 
to what the Great God has been doing in it and to it." 



BRIDGWATER. 



This town was anciently called Brugia, Brugie, Brugge, Brugge- 
Walter, and Burgh-Walter. 

In the time of Edward the Confessor it was the private estate of 
Merlesuain, a Saxon thane, who lost it at the Conquest ; and King 
William gave it to his follower Walschin or Walter de Dowai, from 
whom the place derived the distinguishing part of its appellation. The 
idea that the town derived its name from the bridge was, however, 
long since entertained, and will perhaps never be relinquished. 

It is situated on the banks of the river Parret, which hence, in a bold 
stream, vdnds its way towards the estuary of the Bristol Channel. The 
town, is also commodiously situated in a woody, flat country, having 
rich moors to the north and east, in the great western road leading 
from the cities of Bath and Bristol to Taunton, Exeter, and the county 
of Cornwall, being distant forty miles from Bath, thirty-four from 
Bristol, and eleven from Taunton. 

The place has been very large and populous, but frequently dimin- 
ished by conflagrations and other causes; particularly in the year 1645, 
when it was besieged by the Parliamentary forces under Sir Thomas 
Fairfax, all that quarter of the town called Eastover, a few houses ex- 
cepted, was entirely burnt to the ground. At this day the town con- 
sists of several good streets, most of which stand on the west side of 
the river, but communicate with the other part, w^hicli was heretofore 
very considerable, by a lofty and ancient bridge of three arches, begun 
in the time of King John by WiUiam Briwere, lord of the town, and 
finished by Sir Thomas Trivet, whose arms being a trivet, in allusion 
to his name, were affixed to the coping of the structure. To the north 
of this bridge is the quay, which is large and commodious. 

COLLINSON. 

Population in 1811,-4911; in 1821,-6155; in 1831,-7807. 



CHEIST CHURCH CHAPEL. 



The confessor at Bridgwater, on the memorable 
Bartholomew Day, was Mr. John Norman, a min*. 
ister of more than usual talent and firmness. He 
continued to preach here after his ejectment; and 
having been, for some years, both useful and ac- 
ceptable, he easily retained a large number of his 
friends. To the congregation thus formed this ex- 
cellent man persevered in privately officiating, with 
the exception of the intervals occasioned by severe 
persecution and his absence from home, until his 
death, which occurred about the year 1676. 

The Nonconformists' Memorial* contains some 
interesting anecdotes which shew the difhculties of 
the first members of this society. Sixteen months 
after Mr. Norman's ejectment, he was sent with 
several other ministers to the county jail, and there 
made a close prisoner for preaching to his people 
in private. He appeared at the bar of Judge Fos- 
ter, by whom he was handled very roughly. " Sir- 
rah (he said), do you preach Yes, my Lord." 

And why so. Sirrah ?" " Because I was ordained 
to preach the gospel." *^'How was you ordained?" 



* Vol. ii. p. 347. 



BRIBGWATER. 



177 



''In the same manner as Timothy." '^And how 
was that By the laying on of the hands of the 
Presbytery." The Judge was struck with this last 
reply, and repeated it several times; but he sen- 
tenced his victim to pay a fine of a hundred pounds, 
and to be imprisoned till it was paid. 

Mr. Norman remained in Ilchester Gaol eighteen 
months in consequence of this cruel verdict. Nor 
would his release have been eiffected so soon, but 
for the humanity of Baron Hale, who, going that 
circuit, took notice of him, and compounded the fine 
at sixpence in the pound. Nothing daunted by his 
sufferings, Mr. Norman employed himself in prison 
in writing a work which he afterwards published, 
with the title ''Christ confessed"; and when he 
found himself at large, he again pursued the path 
of duty by preaching in private. 

On his removal, the congregation chose as their 
pastor Mr. John Gardener, Dr. Calamy mentions 
a person of this name as ejected from Staplegrove, 
but gives no particulars concerning him. He is 
supposed to have died about the year 1682. 

In 1679 came Mr. John Moore, also an ejected 
minister, noted for his abilities, exertions, and suf- 
ferings. When the Act of Uniformity was put in 
force against him, he officiated at Holnest and Long 
Burton, in the county of Dorset. He then retired 
to Ottery St. Mary, in Devonshire, where for a few 
years he cultivated his own estate, and preached as 
often as possible to the people in the neighbour- 
hood. He laboured at Bridgwater with great suc- 

N 



178 BRIDGWATER. 

cess thirty-six years.* He was succeeded by his 
son^ Mr. John Moore, Jun., who continued to he 
pastor of the congregation till his death, which oc- 
curred in 1747, in the seventy-fourth year of his 
age.t 

During the ministry of both father and son, the 
cause of Dissent flourished at Bridgwater. In 1688, 
the society was sufficiently numerous to erect a place 
of worship. About that time Mr. Moore, Sen., es- 
tablished an academy in the town, which maintain- 
ed a respectable character many years. In the 
reign of William the Third, the tutor suffered from 
the still surviving spirit of persecution; being ap- 
prehended by a warrant from the Mayor for keeping 
an academy. Before he died, however, he had the 
happiness of seeing a great change in the feelings 
and sentiments of the authorities of the town; his 
audience gradually became highly respectable both 
for fortune and numbers, and at length included the 
whole of the civic magistracy. J 

Mr. Moore, Jun., followed in the steps of his 
father. The pupils in the academy enjoyed great 
advantages from his attainments in science and his 
method of conveying knowledge. While searching 
the Scriptures, he was led to adopt Arian views of 
the Gospel, — a circumstance which is said to have 
lessened the number of the students under his care.§ 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 452. 

t Bogue and Bennett's History of the Dissenters, Vol. iii. p. 290. 
X Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 453. 

§ "When the Ariomania raged in the West, he too was seized, some of 
his students left him, and the character of his academy sustained a grievous 



BRIDGWATER. 



179 



He continued the Academy as long as he lived. 
Among his pupils were Mr. Simon Browne, Dr. 
Samuel Chandler, Dr. Joseph Jeffries, and Mr. 
Thomas Morgan. A sermon, in reference to his 
death, by his friend Dr. Amory, represents him as 
universally beloved in the town and neighbour- 
hood.* An impulse was given to the inquiries of 
Mr. Moora by the celebrated controversy, during 
which Mr. Peirce and Mr. Hallet were ejected from 
their pulpits at Exeter; and the congregation at 
Bridgwater seems to have adopted the sentiments of 
its pastor. We have little direct information re- 
specting the opinions of this society during the 
greater part of the last century ; but, judging from 
those of its ministers, we should say that they were 
''heterodox." Its distinctive appellation was Pres- 
byterian ; and, like many others of the same name, 
it was distinguished from the beginning by a 
thorough knowledge and an earnest advocacy of the 
rights of conscience. 

Mr. Moore was succeeded by Mr. Matthew Tow- 
good, only son of the celebrated Micaijah Towgood. 
This gentleman remained till 1755, when the con- 
gregation elected Mr. Thomas Watson, by whom it 
was faithfully served thirty-eight years. During 
the interval of Mr. Towgood's removal and the 

injury." — Bogue and Bennett, iii. 290. The reader will take all allusions 
to such tender points from this source cum gram salis. 

* Mr. Moore, Jun., was the author of a work entitled " Propositions on 
Natural and Revealed Religion" ; also of a tract in answer to Jackson on 
the Trinity, about the year 17.-57. 

n2 



180 



BRIDGWATER. 



settlement of Mr. Watson^ the congregation was 
supplied by Mr. Lush. I have been favoured with 
a sight of Mr. Watson's private register,* in which 
he entered with great regularity the baptisms at 
which he officiated and the names of his communi- 
cants. The former amounted to two hundred and 
seventy-eight ; many of the parents of the children 
appear to have been in the middle and lower walks 
of life, — a sure indication of the usefulness of their 
pastor. There are also some names in the register 
still remembered in connexion with various under- 
takings which required the aid of influence, intelli- 
gence, generosity, and public spirit. To know that, 
w^hile the poor listened gladly to the services of the 
sanctuary, these persons grew in faith and virtue, is 
to presume that the pure Gospel of Jesus was 
preached. A large proportion of the communicants 
became such in consequence of the persuasions of 
Mr. Watson. He was also the first to establish a 
Sunda3'-school in this town. Few men were less 
anxious than this respected minister to preserve 
mere sectarian distinctions. It was his opinion, for 
instance, that the office of baptizing adults should 
not be confined to those who are generally called 
Baptist ministers. Although he practised infant 
sprinkling, he did not deem himself exempted from 
publicly immersing any persons who wished in this 
manner to confess Christ before men. Accordingly, 
his register contains notices of his having performed 

* In the possession of his son, the Rev. T. Watson, of Bath. 



BRIDGWATER. 



181 



this interesting ceremony on three occasions^ — in 
1758, in 1768, and in 1785. * 

It was during Mr. Watson's ministry that the 
spacious chapel was rebuilt. The last service in 
the old one was conducted June 24, 1787 ; and the 
first in the new. May 18, 1788. The form of this 
building is oblong ; the roof is supported by four 
large pillars, which give the house a heavy appear- 
ance. The pulpit is at some distance from the end 
wall ; and behind is a low gallery, or long pew, ex- 
tending from side to side, originally erected for the 
use of the corporation, but now appropriated to the 
Sunday-scholars. Opposite the pulpit is the usual 
singing gallery, in which is an organ. Within the 
last few years, a vestry has been built adjoining the 
chapel, and various improvements introduced in the 
interior of the building. At another part of the 
tov/n the congregation have very convenient pro- 
perty, consisting of a minister's house, a burial- 
ground, and a school-room, the latter having been 
built lately at the expense of a few individuals. 
In the chapel and vestry are two marble tablets, 
with the following inscriptions : 

* Whatever may be thought of the use of water at the naming and de- 
dication of children, the example of Mr. Watson in baptizing adults may 
surely be generally followed with advantage. This is not the place to 
enter fully into the question, or it would not be difficult to shew that those 
who make the ordinance of Baptism a ground of division might, without 
the slightest compromise of principle and with scarcely any inconvenience, 
lessen in some degree the number of sects in the Christian church, and 
thus hasten the time when there shall be one fold and one shepherd. The 
Lord's table does not divide the disciples of Jesus ; why should the bap- 
tismal font or the baptismal pool? 



182 



BRIDGWATER. 



Underneath lie the remains of the Rev. Thomas Watson, 

WHO WAS nearly THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS THE GOOD, ABLE, FAITH- 
FUL, AND BELOVED PASTOR OF THIS CHRISTIAN ChURCH, AND 
WHO DIED, UNIVERSALLY LAMENTED, ON THE 5th OF MaRCH, 
1793, IN THE 67th YEAR OF HIS AGE, 

Also of 

Mary, his most dear wife, daughter of Richard Codrington, 
Gent., who died March 30, 1774, aged 43. 

[Also of three children, &c., &c.} 
To the memory of Thomas Osler, upwards of sixty years an 

ACTIVE AND EXEMPLARY MEMBER OF THE CONGREGATION ASSEM- 
BLING IN THIS PLACE, WHOSE LIFE WAS DILIGENTLY SPENT IN 
DOING JUSTLY, LOVING MERCY, AND WALKING HUMBLY WITH HIS 
God, THIS TABLET IS GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY IN- 
SCRIBED BY HIS SURVIVING CHILDREN. He WAS BORN JuNE 15, 

1745; DIED October 26, 1825; and is interred in this 

CHAPEL. 

Mary, his wife, daughter of John Cole, Gent., (formerly of 
Taunton,) an indulgent yet judicious mother, and a stead- 
fast FRIEND, DIED MaRCH 28, 1792, AGED 42 YEARS. 

On the death of Mr. Watson, Mr. William Evans, 
now of Tavistock, preached here for some months. 
The successor in the pastoral office was Mr. John 
Howel, who removed to Bridgwater from Yeovil 
about the close of the year 1793. This gentleman 
was originally designed for the Church of England, 
but found himself impelled by conscientious motives 
to prefer the Dissenting ministry, and accordingly 
went to Carmarthen for his academical education. 
He was an acceptable preacher, and much respected 
for his gentlemanly manners. His sentiments were 



BRIDGWATER. 



183 



decidedly Unitarian, and he did not hesitate to avow 
them. After residing here ten years, he was sud- 
denly called to his reward; his remains were in- 
terred near those of Mr. Watson, under the vestry. 

After the death of Mr. Howel, the congregation 
were supplied a short time by Mr. John Jones. The 
next minister was Mr. Houson, of whom the only 
information I can obtain is, that he remained at 
Bridgwater till 1815, and then quitted both the town 
and the Dissenters to enter the Church. He was 
succeeded by Mr. Tingcombe, from Newport, in the 
Isle of Wight, formerly one of Mr. Belsham's pupils 
at Daventry, and now residing at Bristol, to which 
place he removed to become minister of the Frenchay 
congregation, about 1826. In this year came Mr. 
William Steil Browne, who had been a short time 
minister at Hull ; he received part of his education 
for the ministry at Wymondley ; in consequence of 
a change in his sentiments he removed to the college 
at York. While he was at Bridgwater, a liturgy 
was introduced for the use of this society ; but it 
was soon relinquished. In the month of August, 
1832, Mr. Browne left for America, where he hoped 
to find a more extensive field of usefulness and 
brighter prospects for his family. The respect in 
which he was held was testified on his removal by 
two public addresses; one from the congregation, 
accompanied by a subscription purse ; and one from 
other inhabitants of the town, accompanied by a 
handsome piece of plate.* 

* Unit. Chron., Vol. i. p. 168.^^^*^-'^^ '^ 



184 



BRIDGWATER, 



After Mr. Browne s departure, the congregation 
was supplied for a short time by Mr. Mortimer 
Maurice, from the college at York. When this 
gentleman left, to accept an invitation from Chester, 
the pastoral office was undertaken by Mr. William 
James, who had been educated under Mr. Acton, of 
Exeter, and spent the first few years of his minis- 
terial life at Sidmouth. He has the happiness of 
seeing the Bridgwater congregation continue to in- 
crease in numbers and zeal. The alterations and 
improvements in the chapel indicate an earnest- 
ness on the part of the people highly satisfactory 
and encouraging to their minister. They also sup- 
port a fellowship fund, a Sunday-school of about 
one hundred children, meeting in the room lately 
erected, and a chapel library, which by a wise and 
benevolent arrangement has been made available to 
the gratuitous diffusion of knowledge to a consider- 
able extent. We have only to add, that this is, un- 
questionably, one of those congregations with regard 
to which the recollections of the past, so far from 
being saddened, are rendered in a high degree 
pleasing, by the prospects of the future. 



.John Norman, M.A ] 662— 1675 

John Gardener 1675 — 1682. 

John Moore 1670—1717. 

John Moore, Jun 1717 — 1747. 

Matthew Towgood 1747 — 1755. 



BRIDGWATER. 



185* 



Henry Houson . 
John Tingcombe 



Thomas Watson 
John Howel .. 



William Steil Browne 
William James 



1755—1793. 
1793—1803. 
1805—1815. 
1815—1826. 
1826—1832, 
1833. 



Mr. John Norman, M. A., was educated at Exeter College^ 
Oxford, where he was at first servitor to Dr. Conant, the worthy 
Rector. He had good natural abilities, and by his industry, 
and the blessing of God on that good Doctor's instructions, ac- 
quired a considerable stock of learning, both human and divine. 
He removed from the University to Bridgwater, where he was 
very useful till the Bartholomew- Act ejected him. He was an 
acceptable preacher, and a man of exemplary conversation ; 
much respected here, and in all the western parts of the king- 
dom. 

In addition to the particulars mentioned in the preceding his- 
tory, the following are found in the Nonconformists' Memorial. 
While the Judge handled Mr. Norman so roughly, he with great 
gravity told him, that a liberal education at the University, and 
the holy calling of the ministry, not stained with any unworthy 
action, merited good words from his Lordship, and better usage 
from the world. The Judge seemed the more inflamed, and 
the more bent upon pouring on him all possible contempt. Mr. 
Norman then said, " Sir, you must 'ere long appear before a 
greater Judge, to give an account of your own actions, and to 
answer for railing at me, the servant of that great Judge." As 
he was going to Ilchester Gaol, the officers called at the High 
Sheriffs house. The lady of the mansion began to upbraid Mr. 
Norman, and after other words said, " Where is your God now, 
that he suffers you to be carried to prison?" Mr. Norman 
asked if she had a Bible in the house. " Yes (said she) we are 



186 



BRIDGWATER. 



not so heathenish as to be without a Bible." He being impor- 
tunate for one, a Bible was at last brought ; and he read the 
following words : " Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy : 
when I fall I shall arise ; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall 
be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord 
because I have sinned against him, until he plead mj cause and 
execute judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light, 
and I shall behold his righteousness. Then she that is mine 
enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto 
me, Where is the Lord thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her: 
now shall she be trodden down as the mire in the streets."* — 
The lady, struck with these solemn and affecting words, imme- 
diately retired, and the dealings of God with the family not 
long after made this circumstance remembered, t — After Mr. 
Norman's release, he continued preaching in private some years. 
He went occasionally to Bristol, and it was while he was on one 
of his journeys that he died. His age was about 40. Notwith- 
standing his sufferings, he retained an even temper to the last. 

Works : — Cases of Conscience ; to which an Account of him 
is prefixed by Mr. W. Cooper. — Christ's C ommission- Officer ; 
an Ordination Sermon. — Christ confessed (written in prison). — 
Family Governors exhorted to Family Godliness. 



Mr. John Moore was born at Musbury, and had his gram- 
mar-learning at Colyton. At the usual age he went to Brasen 
Nose College, Oxford. Mr. John Prince, Vicar of Berry Pomeroy, 
(and author of the Worthies of Devon,) mentions him as his 
fellow-pupil, under Mr. T. Adams. Having had episcopal ordi- 
nation, he officiated at Holnest and Long Burton, where he re- 
mained five years after Bartholomew Day, and yet was at length 
as much silenced by the Act of Uniformity as if he had been 

* Micah vii. 8—10. 

t A similar anecdote has been related in reference to Mr. Worts, an 
ejected minister in Norfolk, 



BRIDGWATER. 



187 



ejected by it at first. Being intimate with several silenced min- 
isters, he was by degrees convinced of his obligations to join 
them. But before he left the Church, he met with much trouble 
on account of his not practising a total conformity. During his 
abode at Ottery, he was employed in preaching to the people in 
the country round about, often to the great hazard of his person 
and of his life. However, he providentially escaped ; and once 
very remarkably, when he fled hastily in the night in dreadful 
weather. A little before, his persecutors entered his house with 
great violence, and ran their swords through all the beds, in ex- 
pectation either of discovering or destroying him. He had at 
this time seven children, one of whom, (afterwards his succes- 
sor,) being very young, innocently asked his mother, on occa- 
sion of this alarm, whether they were not the Philistines? 
While at Ottery, his goods were once seized and publicly cried 
for sale ; but nobody would buy them, and they were restored. 
He had the greatest respect shewn him while he continued here ; 
the country people took the whole management of his little 
farm, besides doing many other acts of kindness. 

He maintained an even, cheerful temper under all the hard- 
ships of the dark times, was very pleasant in conversation, and 
of a most peaceable spirit. He (with Mr. Weeks, of Bristol, 
and Mr. A. Sinclaire, who fled thither from Waterford, in Ire- 
land, to escape the rage of the Papists, in the reign of King 
James) encouraged the ministers of Somerset first, and those of 
Devon afterwards, to assemble together in stated meetings, to 
maintain order, union, and peace. He diligently attended the 
assemblies in Somerset, and sometimes even in his old age 
travelled to those held in Exeter. He was afflicted many years 
with the stone. In his last painful sickness, his patience and se- 
renity of mind were truly admirable. And so well was he forti- 
fied against what is to nature the most shocking, that few, if any, 
have been known to meet death with less concern, or a greater 
composure of spirit. He died Aug. 23, 1717, aged 75. His 
funeral sermon was preached by Mr. Batson, of Taunton. He 



188 



BRIDGWATER. 



left two sons in the ministry among the Dissenters ; one at 
Bridgwater, the other at Abingdon. 

Works : — A Reformation Sermon at Bridgwater in 1 698, on 
Rom. xiii. 8. — An Answer to Mr. Matthew Hold's Letters con- 
cerning the Gifts and Forms of Prayer. 

Mr. Matthew Towgood was the son of the celebrated ISli- 
caijah Towgood. He does not appear to have been settled as a 
Dissenting minister before he went to Bridgwater. Here he 
continued about six years ; and on leaving the town he quitted 
the ministry, engaged in business, and subsequently became 
an eminent banker in London. It is to this gentleman that 
Mr. Manning alludes in the following paragraph in the life 
of his father : " In the month of January, 1791, the strength of 
his religious principles was severely tried by the death of his 
only son, Matthew Towgood, Esq., of London, in the sixtieth 
year of his age. He was a gentleman of distinguished public 
spirit and ardour of mind, and zealously engaged in various un- 
dertakings in which the advantage and honour of the Protestant 
Dissenters were concerned. The venerable parent had the 
satisfaction of seeing his son pass through the various scenes of 
life with great credit and usefulness, and close it as became the 
expectant of a better world ; and he had still the comfort of 
observing his descendants filling usefal and important stations 
in life, and entertaining the cheerful hope that there would be 
some, in future generations, who would inherit his principles, 
be zealous supporters of the cause of civil and religious libeity, 
and pillars in the house of God when he should be laid in the 
dust." * x\ late number of the Christian Reformer mentions the 
death, at Cardiff, on February 28, 1835, of William Towgood, 
Esq., aged seventy- six, one of the grandsons of the Rev. Mi- 
caijah Towgood, and himself an enlightened and zealous friend 
of ci\'il and religious liberty. 



Manning's Life of Towgood, p. 84. 



BRIDGWATER, 



189 



Mr. Thomas Watson was a native of Kettering, in North- 
amptonshire. He received the first part of his education at 
Kibworth, in Leicestershire, under Mr., afterwards Dr., Aikin. 
His studies for the ministry were superintended by Dr. Dod- 
dridge, in the Academy at Northampton. In the year ] 748, he 
settled with a small congregation at Coleford, under the Mendip 
Hills, — a place associated in many liberal minds with the names 
and the labours of Billingsley, Stogdon, and Foster. Mr. Wat- 
son preached his farewell sermon at Coleford, August 3, 1755, 
and was ordained at Bridgwater Sept. 24, in the same year. 
Eight years afterwards he married Miss Mary Codrington, whose 
early death is noticed in the inscription in the preceding pages. 
Mrs. Watson left four children, the youngest of whom died in 
1792; the others still survive. The subject of this memoir died 
on Tuesday, the fifth, of March, 1793, having preached the pre- 
ceding Lord's day with more than usual vigour. About eight 
o'clock on the Monday evening he was seized by palsy, and at 
half-past ten the next morning expired, universally lamented 
and universally respected. 

The above particulars I have gathered from Mr. Watson's 
funeral sermon, by Dr. Toulmin. For those which follow I am 
indebted to the Gentleman's Magazine. 

" His knowledge was extensive, and he had a particular fond- 
ness and taste for polite literature, especially for poetry. In his 
sentiments he was liberal, and that liberality was united with 
the most perfect candour towards those who diflered from him. 
in the discharge of his pastoral duty he was constant, faithful, 
and affectionate ; and his discourses eminently pathetic. His 
whole conduct as a minister of the gospel was such as to pro- 
cure him the universal respect and regard of his congregation, 
and to render his loss deeply regretted. The esteem he was 
held in was not confined to his own society, or to persons of his 
own religious profession. In his private character he was 
amiable in the highest degree. None could excel him in the 
tenderness of his affections as a husband, and as a father. Be- 



190 



BRIDGWATER. 



nevolence was the characteristic of his soul, and appeared in 
every circumstance of his life. All who knew liim will testify 
to his simple and honest character, to his pious feeling and up- 
right mind. In his friendships he was sincere and ardent, and 
one friend he had with whom he was invariably and most affec- 
tionately connected during a period of forty-nine }'ears. That 
friend (Dr. Kippis) pays this unfeigned tribute of his esteem and 
love to his memory with an humble hope that their mutual 
friendship, though now interrupted by death, will not finally 
be broken, but revive in a better world." 



TAUNTON 



" The river Tone, gliding through a succession of rich meads and 
pastures, imparts to a large district, forming one of the most beautiful 
dens or valleys in the county, the distinguishing appellation of Taunton 
Dean, whereon Drayton, in the third song of his Polyolbion, passes 
this encomium, 

* What eare so empty is that hath not heard the sound 

* Of Taunton's fruitful Dean ? not matcht by any ground.' " 

COLLINSON. 

" The town stands on the great road leading from the Land^s End 
in Cornwall to the north of England, lying between Exeter and Bridg- 
water, thirty-three miles north east of the former and eleven miles 
south of the latter. The situation rendering it the thoroughfare from 
Bristol and Bath to Exeter and Plymouth, it is enlivened with a con- 
tinual succession of travellers. 

" Taunton has ever been a principal town in the county of Somerset, 
Before the modern improvements were introduced it was deemed well 
built. Its streets are spacious, and as it spreads over a considerable 
extent of ground, the houses even in the middle of it, are generally 
furnished with good outlets and gardens. — ^Toulmin. 

Population in 1811,-6997; in 1821,-8534; in 1831,-11,139. 



MARY STREET. 



The worshipers in this building are among the 
descendants of the two oldest Dissenting congrega- 
tions in the town — the Baptist and the Presbyterian. 
A society of the former denomination existed here 
so long since as the year 1646^ and was one of the 
numerous churches formed about that time in the 
county of Somerset. 

Mr. Thomas Burgess was one of the earliest mi- 
nisters ; he is mentioned in Crosby's interesting list 
of '"Baptist Ministers who remained steadfast 
though they were often imprisoned."* The follow- 
ing letter from Mr. Thomas Collier (who probably 
filled the office of messenger in the churchy an office 
still maintained by the Greneral Baptist Assembly,) 
illustrates the zeal and spirit of the denomination 
nearly two centuries ago. 

To tJie Saints in the order and felloivsliip of the gospel in 
Taunton. 

Your dear brother, THOMAS COLLIER, desireth the increase of 
grace, and peace from God the Father and from our Jesus 
Christ. 

Dear Brethren and Sisters, 

I have not had an opportunity of writing nnto 
you till now, altho' my spirit hath been up to the Lord for you 

* Crosby's History of the Baptists, Vol. iii. p. 52. See also Appendix to 
Vol. i., containing the confession of faith of the Somersetshire churches. 



TAUNTON, 



193 



continiiallj. The Lord hath manifested his presence with me 
exceedingly in ray journey. I desire the Lord to raise y hearts 
in thankfulness. He hath gathered saints in Pool by me. 
Fourteen took up the ordinance at once ; there is like to be a 
great work, and I confirmed the churches in other places. I am 
not yet got so far as London ; but I shall I expect to-morrow. 
Dearly beloved, my desire and prayer to our Father on your 
behalf is, that you may live above, and then y*" souls will not 
want comfort; and my exhortat" to you is, to wait upon the 
Lord in his own way, and not to look forth into the world ; there 
is bread enough in your Father's house ; there he hath promised 
hi^ presence. Tho' you seem to want gifts, yet you shall not 
want the presence of y*" Father, yr Jesus, if you wait upon him. 
The unlimited power of the Presbyter^ is denied them, of which 
you shall have more shortly. I desire to be remembered to all 
my friends with you, and at present rest 

Your dear brother in, the faith and fellowship of the gospel, 

Thomas Collier. 

Gilford, Ap. 20, 1646. 

I shall see you as speedily as possible I may. 

The first Presbyterian society was formed soon 
after the passing of the Act of Uniformity. Its 
ministers were Mr. George Newton, ejected from 
St. Mary Magdalene's, Taunton, and Mr. George 
Hammond, from Trinity and St. Peter, Dorchester. 
In the year 1672 they built a meeting-house, but 
in the confusion which followed the Duke of Mon- 
mouth's rebellion, the seats, stairs, and galleries, 
were torn up and made into a bonfire. The build- 
ing itself was allowed to remain, though not without 
an attempt to convert it into a workhouse. * In the 

* Nonconformists' Memorial and Toulmin's History of Taunton, 
Savage's edition, in which sec memoirs of all ministers of Paul's meeting. 

O 



194 



TAUNTON. 



year 1687, the Presbyterians of Taunton, whose 
zeal on behalf of a change in the government had 
meanwhile brought on them the most dreadful ca- 
lamities, again assembled and chose as their pastors 
Mr. Emanuel Hartford and Mr. Matthew Warren. 
These gentlemen died in the year 1706^ within two 
months of each other, and were succeeded by Mr. 
Edmund Batson, during whose ministry those mem- 
bers who inclined to Arianism, or had actually 
adopted it, seceded. It was also in the time of Mr. 
Batson that Mr. Grove and Mr. James conducted, at 
Taunton, their seminary for the education of young 
men for the ministry, — an institution which tended 
considerably to strengthen the Dissenting cause in 
the town and neighbourhood.* 

The original congregation gradually acquired the 
appellation Independent, and continued to worship 
in the old meeting-house till the 1797, when the 
present spacious and handsome building called, like 
the first, Pauls Meeting," was erected on the 
same site.-|* 

* Mr. Grove died in 1737. In Paul's meeting there is a tablet to his 
memory, with a long latin inscription, giving a full account of his parent- 
age, public offices, and character. — See Toulmin's History. 

t In reference to the connexion of the Taunton Nonconformists with the 
celebrated insurrection, I cannot refrain from quoting the following 
passage : — 

" From Chard, Monmouth and his party proceeded to Taunton, a town 
where, as well for the tenour of former occurrences, as from the zeal and 
number of the Protestant Dissenters who formed a great portion of its 
inhabitants, he had every reason to expect the most favourable reception. 
His expectations were not disappointed. The inhabitants of the upper 
as well as of the lower classes, vied with each other in testifying their 
admiration for his person, and their zeal for his cause. While the latter 
rent the air with applauses and acclamations, the former opened their 
houses to him and to his followers, and furnished his army with necessaries 



TAUNTON. 195 

Of the history of the oldest society — the Baptists — 
there are but few particulars. The members of it 
built, and were, for a long time, the only worship- 
ers in, the Mary Street chapel. Their first meet- 
ing-house was erected, at a very early period, near 
the spot on which the present building stands. 
The date of the latter is 1721 ; and its good size 
and handsome appearance indicate that the congre- 
gation, by whose unaided exertions it was built, 
was at that time numerous and wealthy. The roof 
is supported by two Corinthian pillars ; the pulpit 
and stair-case are enriched with elegantly carved- 
work, and, as well as the fronts of the pews and 
galleries, made of Flemish oak. Before the chapel is 
an area 9 feet wide, and behind it a burial ground in 
which are interred the remains of some of the most 
respectable families in the town. Among the libe- 
ral supporters of the cause in the last century, were 

and supplies of every kind. His way was strewed with flowers ; the 
windows were thronged with spectators, all anxious to participate in what 
the warm feelings of the moment made them deem a triumph. Husbands 
pointed out to their wives, mothers to their children, the brave and lovely 
hero, who w^as destined to be the deliverer of his country. The beautiful 
lines which Dryden makes Achitophel in his highest strain of flattery, 
apply to this unfortunate nobleman were, in this instance, literally 
verified : 

' Thee, Saviour, thee, the nation's vow confess, 

' And never satisfied with seeing, bless, 

* Swift unbespoken pomps thy steps proclaim, 

' And stammering babes are taught to lisp thy name.' 

In the midst of these joyous scenes, twenty-six young maids, of the best 
families in the town, presented him, in the name of their townsmen, with 
colours wrought by them for the purpose, and with a Bible, upon receiv- 
ing which he said, that he had taken the field with a design to defend the 
truth contained in that book, and to seal it with his blood if there was 
occasion." — C. J. Fox's History of the Reign of James the Second, p. 229. 

o 2 



196 TAUNTON. 

Mr. Samuel Noble and Mrs. Jane Noble; the former, 
in the year 1745, bequeathed to the congregation 
a valuable service of plate for the communion ; the 
latter, in 1777, added to this legacy a pair of silver 
candlesticks w^ith snuffers and dish.* 

The Baptist congregation appears to have declin- 
ed before the end of the last century. Nor did the 
talents and exertions of Dr. Toulmin and Mr. Job 
David, much as they were esteemed, produce a per- 
manent revival. In Taunton, as in most places, 
where Dissenters abounded, the spirit of persecu- 
tion raged during the French Revolution, and 
proved particularly detrimental to the cause of Uni- 
tarianism. Dr. Toulmin, we are told, experienced 
unremitted insult and misrepresention. At one 
time Paine was burnt in effigy before his door, and 
but for the interference of particular friends, he 
himself would have undergone a similar fate. The 
house of an interested neighbour was so closely 
connected with his, that, to save himself, he em- 
ployed all his influence to save the Doctor s pre- 
mises from the devouring flames. But although 
the persecuting spirit was, in this instance, repelled, 
it succeeded, afterwards, in breaking the windows 
of his house in every direction in which they could 
be assailed. And even after he had been obliged, 
for the sake of peace, to quit his abode and consent 
to the relinquishment of a concern (the trade of a 
bookseller) in which Mrs. Toulmin had been long 
engaged, he was still insecure and was poisoned 

* Toulniin's History of Taunton. Savage's Edition, p. 184. 



TAUNTON. 



m 



with the bitterest rancour. One evening a large 
stone was aimed at his head, through the study 
window, where he was sitting, with an evident in- 
tention to strike a mortal blow. His agitation of 
spirits on this occasion was excessive, because the 
act manifested such determined malice. His bed- 
room windows were nightly beset ; nor can any one 
say what fatal event would have occurred, if a pro- 
fessional friend had not taken up his cause, and, 
collecting a few more to assist him, watched these 
midnight foes, who finding they were thus watched, 
at length, through fear, desisted."* This extract 
shews the state of feeling in Taunton at the close of 
the last century.: — It is not surprising that during 
the continuance of a Church and King" reign of 
terror, the Baptist and Presbyterian Societies, whose 
sentiments had long been alike on points of the 
greatest importance, did not both flourish. So long 

* Letter from Birmingham quoted by Rev. I. Worsley in his sermon on 
the death of Dr. Toulmin. 

A friend of the author of this work thus writes, in reference to the his- 
tory of the Taunton congregation at this period : — " I was there in the 
midst of the storm. Dr. Toulmin experienced the greatest persecution. 
Yet he fearlessly declared his political sentiments both in the pulpit and 
out of it. A little knot, whom the world called democrats, used to meet 
in the evening and talk upon these matters, and sometimes we played and 
sang ' Ca ira' and the Marsellois hymn most enthusiastically, — but not the 
good Doctor." 

" The very excellent and conscientious Mr. Ward, who had lately re- 
signed his office as minister of the Presbyterian congregation, notwith- 
standing all his meekness and caution, and the high respect in which he 
was universally held, had his windows smashed because he would not put 
candles into them on the occasion of some victory obtained in the French 
War. When his good wife entreated him to comply with the custom, his 
answer manifested a more than usual determination not to deviate a hair's 
breadth from what he deemed the path of duty, — ' My dear, dost thou 
think that I will damn my soul by so wicked a compliance ?' " 



198 



TAUNTON. 



as they continued separate, the chief if not the only 
ground of difference between them was the mode of 
administering Baptism, and this was wisely lost 
sight of in proportion as their opinions on other 
subjects became more decided and more unpopular. 
About two years after the retirement of Mr. David, 
the congregation in Mary Street chose a Paedo- 
baptist minister, the Rev. H. Davies, LL. D., 
educated under Mr. Bretland, at Exeter, and at 
Manchester College, York. In the year 1814 a 
society of Calvinistic Baptists was formed in the 
town, to which all who have adopted their distin- 
guishing ordinance have since attached themselves, 
under the pastoral care of the Rev. R. Horsey. 
These circumstances tended to lessen the desirable- 
ness of appropriating the chapel in Mary Street 
exclusively to the use of Baptists ; and as the Pres- 
byterian meeting-house in Tancred Street was about 
this time, 1815, in a ruinous condition, it was taken 
down, the site converted into a burial ground, and 
the two congregations united under the pastoral 
care of Dr. Henry Davies. 

I have now to give some account of the Presby- 
terian congregation. It originated in a secession 
from Paul's meeting in 1732, soon after the appoint- 
ment of Mr. Amory to assist old Mr. Batson. By 
Mr. Amory and his friends it was naturally expect- 
ed that Mr. Batson would relinquish part of his 
salary, but this he refused to do, and, consequently, 
gave much dissatisfaction. The attachment to Mr. 
Amory. among those who expected the relinquish- 



TAUNTON. 



199 



ment, was increased by the talents of that gentle- 
man, his superior liberality on religious subjects, 
and the Christian candour with which he avowed 
his opinions. His friends soon built a new meeting- 
house in Tancred Street, where he officiated till his 
removal to London. It was a neat building 33 feet 
in front and 50 feet in depth, having an area before 
it planted with a row of lime trees. Here the wor- 
shipers of one God the Father were long favoured 
with the services of Mr. John Ward ; and, after his 
removal, with those of Mr. Broadhurst and Mr. 
Fenner. The reader will find a memoir of Mr. 
Ward in connexion with the history of the society 
at Yeovil. Mr. Broadhurst removed to Bath, where 
he still resides; he has had no ministerial charge 
since he resigned his office as Pastor of the congre- 
gation in that city. Mr. Fenner was born in 
London, baptized by Dr. Gibbons, educated at 
Daventry, and settled, first, at Bicester ; second, at 
Chowbent; third, at Devizes; fourth, at Taunton; 
and, fifth, at Kenilworth ; he died at Taunton, Nov. 
1833, in the eighty-third year of his age. The 
Presbyterian society in Taunton was, at the time 
of its removal to Mary Street, highly respectable, 
and numbered among its members, a few of the 
most influential inhabitants of the town, — gentlemen 
who have long been distinguished for their adhe- 
rence to the cause of civil and religious liberty, and 
their promotion of public and praiseworthy objects. 

Twenty years have now elapsed since the con- 
gregations were united. No difference exists on 
doctrinal subjects ; and the attendants at the chapel 



200 



TAUNTON. 



are still numerous. In the year 1826 they sub- 
scribed six hundred pounds to repair and beautify 
their house of prayer and to erect an organ. At 
the same time they engaged a second minister, the 
Rev. T. W. Horsfield, of Lewes, and on the re-open- 
ing of the chapel commenced a regular Sunday 
evening service. A few months afterwards Dr. 
Davies retired altogether from the pulpit, and his 
friends elected, as his successor, the Rev. J. G. 
Teggin, who still conducts the services on one part 
of the Lord's day. 

There are four tablets in the chapel with inscrip- 
tions to the memory of five members of the family 
of Noble ; three of the family of Capon ; Lieutenant 
R. Smith, nephew of Dr. Toulmin ; and Mrs. Davies, 
the wife of Dr. Davies, minister of the congregation. 

TiVNCRED STREET. 

Thomas Amory 

John Ward 

Thomas Broadhurst 

John Ludd Fenner 

MARY STREET. 



Thomas Whinnel 1688—1720. 

Joseph Jeffries 1717 — 1746. 

Richard Harrison, A.M 1746—1764. 

Joshua Toulmin, D.D 1764 — 1803. 

Job David 1803—1808. 

Henry Davies, LL.D 1810 1827. 

T. W. HORSFIELD 1827— 

J. G. Teggin 1828— 



1732—1759. 
1759—1793. 
1793—1795, 
1795—1815. 



TAUNTON. 



201 



Thomas Whinnel was invited to Taunton from Bristol. 
He entered on the work of the ministry at the age of 22, and 
continued in it upwards of 40 years. His whole soul was en- 
gaged in saving and instructing his fellow- creatures ; to do them 
good he willingly suffered persecutions, fines, and imprisonments. 
He betook himself early to the study of the Scriptures, and 
adhered to it to the last, by which means he became familiarly 
acquainted with the word of God. His religion, as he did not 
place it in little niceties and singularities, was far from bigotry 
or enthusiasm ; nor did he think that it obliged him to a stiff 
starch behaviour, to a demure look, or an unsociable, sullen 
reserve ; but an agreeable mixture of cheerfulness and gravity 
sat in his aspect. He was singularly seviceable to the town of 
Taunton and generally beloved. His mind was always calm 
and serene : especially did his peace abound when he came 
within view of death. Mr. Lucas, of Trowbridge, paid the 
usual tribute to his memory on the Sunday after his interment. 
He published one sermon, entitled " The Best Portion," preach- 
ed at the funeral of Mrs. Mary Steed, in the city of Exon, 
November 16, 1699. 4to.* 

Joseph Jeffries, a native of Taunton, was ordained co- 
pastor with Mr. Whinnel, in 1717. On the death of his col- 
league, he undertook the sole charge of the congregation, which 
he retained during the remainder of his life. He was remarka- 
ble for piety, zeal in promoting religion, and affability and libe- 
rality to the poor. Towards the close of his life, he was led by 
inquiry and reflection into a conviction that the Calvinistic 
sentiments he had to that time preached, were not authorized 
by the Scriptures. Nor did he rest satisfied with having altered 
his own views ; he displayed his candour and integrity by an 
avowal from the pulpit of his change, and by his endeavours 
to lead his people into what he believed to be the truth. He 



* Abridged from Toulmin's History of Taunton, p. 185. 



202 



TAUNTON. 



died in tlie year 1746, and his funeral sermon was preaclied by 
his successor, the Rev. Richard Harrison. Mr. Jeffries was the 
father of Dr. Joseph Jeffries, some time pastor of the Baptist 
Church, Pinners' Hall, London, and professor of Civil Law at 
Gresham College. 

Richard Harrison was a native of the city of York, and 
the youngest of twelve children. His father was, for many 
years, a member of the Established Church and intended his 
eldest son for its ministry ; but afterwards joined the Dissenters. 
Mr. Harrison was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and 
spent the first years of his public ministry, partly at Newington 
Green, when he was librarian at Dr. Williams's library ; and 
partly at Colchester. He was afterwards minister of a Paedo- 
baptist congregation at Oxford, whence he was driven by rude- 
ness and bigotry. He then removed to Thame, though he had 
previously avowed his adoption of the practice of Adult Bap- 
tism, and the people liberally dispensed with the ministerial 
functions which he could not conscientiously perform. From 
Thame he removed to Moreton Hampstead and from that place 
to Bridgwater, whence he was invited to Taunton, where he 
continued eighteen years, till 1764, when he generously resigned 
to make room for Dr. Toulmin. Subsequently he lived at 
Nailsworth, Tewkesbury, Liverpool, and Leek, in Staffordshire, 
officiating in each place to a congregation of Paedobaptists, 
and obtaining a large share of respect and affection. At Leek 
he became incapacitated for public services by a paralji:ic 
stroke. He then returned to his native place, where he died 
in 1781, between seventy and eighty years of age. His publi- 
cations were "A letter in the White-hall Evening Post, Septem- 
ber 17, 1747, to the author of the Dissenting Gentleman's 
Letter to Mr. White," and in the same year "An Address to the 
President of the Foundling Hospital, signed Verax, on the 
subject of Infant Baptism." Though not popular as a preacher, 
his sermons were judicious and instructive ; he was a man of 
the greatest simplicity and integrity, and constantly manifested 



TAUNTON, 



^03 



that charitj which "thinketh no evil." So pure and strong 
were his virtuous affections that a gentleman who knew man- 
kind said, he would rather have Mr. Harrison's heart than Lord 
Bacon's head.* 

Dr. Toulmin. — No name is better entitled to a conspicuous 
and honourable place in the annals of Dissent than that of Dr. 
Toulmin. His zeal, judgment, acquirements, literary produc- 
tions, ministerial services, amiable and truly Christian disposi- 
tion, all prompt a more than common tribute to his memory. 
Anxious to do justice to so interesting a life, and so beautiful a 
character, which could only be faithfully delineated by those who 
were personally acquainted with them, I shall borrow largely 
from the language of his highly respected colleague, f 

Joshua Toulmin was born in London, May 11, 1740. How 
much he owed to the care bestowed upon him by his parents, 
his own testimony expressed. Amidst a thousand blessings 
for which, in future life, he acknowledged his obligation to bow 
before the Father of mercies, he deemed this the first and great- 
est, that in youthful years he felt the power and was led to obey 
the dictates of religion. He was sent, for his classical educa- 
tion, to St. Paul's School, where he remained seven years. He 
was then removed to the academy under the charge of Mr. 
Jennings and Dr. Savage, the latter of whom was his relation. 
From the commencement of his studies, he combined a love of 
inquiry and a desire of courageously professing the truth with 
genuine modesty, candour, and devotion ; though in exercising 
the invaluable privilege of a Christian, he had to encounter se- 
vere remonstrances from his father and mother as well as the 
displeasure of Dr. Jennings. 

Mr. Toulmin' s first settlement was at Colyton, in Devonshire, 
in 1761. To this place he carried the good wishes and advice 

* The substance of this and the two preceeding memoirs is taken from 
Toulmin's History of Taunton. 

t The Rev. J. Kentish. See Monthly Repository, Vol. x. p. 665. — I la- 
ment that I am obliged to abridge this valuable piece of biography. 



204 



TAUNTON. 



of liis friend Dr. Savage. Here also he formed some valuable 
friendships, particularly with Dissenters at Bridport and Exeter. 
In 1764, he married a daughter of Mr. Samuel Smith, of Taun- 
ton, — a connexion which proved one of his greatest sources of 
happiness. About this time, he became a decided advocate for 
Adult Baptism, and although his sentiments were always ex- 
pressed with exemplary moderation, he found it necessary, in 
consequence of this change, to leave Colyton. In March 
1765, he accepted an unanimous invitation from the Unitarian 
Baptist congregation at Taunton, to which he had been intro- 
duced, in the kindest and most disinterested manner, by Mr. 
Harrison. Here he spent nearly 39 years, greatly, and notwith- 
standing the spirit of persecution referred to in the history of 
the congregation, generally respected and beloved. For some 
time he was engaged in the instruction of youth. As early as 
1769, he received the degree of Master of Arts from the Bap- 
tist College of Rhode Island and Providence, in New England ; 
and in 179^, on the representation of Dr. Price, Dr. Priestley, 
and Mr. Lindsey, he was honoured with a diploma of Doctor 
in Divinity, by Harvard College, in the same state. 

Nearly the last twelve years of Dr. Toulmin's life were spent 
at Birmingham, whither he removed in January, 1804, as one 
of the pastors of the New Meeting congregation. He had pre- 
viously declined to accept invitations from Gloucester and 
Great Yarmouth, in consequence, on at least one occasion, of 
the importunity of his friends at Taunton, who entreated him to 
continue among them. At Birmingham, as in the scenes of his 
former ministry, he secured the cordial love of those who were 
blessed with his instructions and society, and the esteem and 
good will of men of different denominations. Here also, he 
manifested his accustomed diligence in advancing, both by his 
preaching and his pen, what he regarded as the cause of Clu-is- 
tian truth, liberty, and virtue. At the commencement of the 
year 1815, Dr. Toulmin began to experience some of the in- 
lirmilies of age, and signified his intention of resigning his pas- 
toral charge ; but he was assured, in a manner exceedingly 



TAUNTON. 



205 



gratifying to his feelings, of the very high place he held in the 
esteem and affection of his friends. In June, he returned from 
a long visit to London, where he had been engaged in collecting 
materials for an historical work, attending the anniversary 
meetings of several religious bodies of which he was a member, 
and deriving from interviews with his friends, the exquisite satis- 
faction which a mind particularly susceptible of kind and social 
affections never fails, on such occasions, to receive. His last 
illness, though it found him well prepared, was not anticipated 
so soon. After a confinement of scarcely two days he sunk, 
rapidly and suddenly, under his complaint — an affection of the 
lungs, and expired July 23rd. When the power of speech had 
fled, he was observed by a member of his family, who incess- 
antly watched and tenderly loved him, to be engaged in mental 
prayer, and his looks and manner clearly signified the holy 
gratitude, peace and hope, which reigned within his breast. 

The remains of this most venerable and exemplary Christian 
were interred in the burial ground belonging jointly to the mem- 
bers of the Old and New Meetings. * The congregation of the 
latter, in the kindest manner, undertook the management and 
expense of the funeral ; but after their arrangements were made 
it was found that Dr. Toulmin had himself written directions on 
the subject. It was his wish — a wish so characteristic of his 
amiable temper, that " his pall should be supported by six 
ministers of different denominations." Among those who 
complied were the Rev. John Kennedy, of the Church of En- 
gland, and the Rev. J. A. James, an eminent Independent minis- 
ter. The coffin was carried into the meeting-house, and to the 
grave, by eight of " the ancient members of the church which Dr. 
Toulmin served in the ministry," to each of whom and to each 
of the servants employed on the occasion, was presented, agreea- 
bly to his desire, " a copy of Mr. Orton's discourses on Eter- 
nity, over and above the usual gratuity." Several members 
of the family followed as mourners. Dr. Toulmin had twelve 
children, but only five survived him. The service was conduct- 



* Monthly Repository, x. 523. 



206 



TAUNTON. 



ed by Mr. Kentish, himself a deeply afflicted mourner, who also 
delivered the funeral sermon, on the Lord's day following, from 
2 John, 8, a passage from which the deceased desired that his 
"dear and respected people" might be addressed on the occa- 
sion. * Funeral sermons w^ere also preached in various parts of 
the kingdom, particularly at Essex Street, London, by Mr. Bel- 
sham ; at the Old Meeting, Birmingham, by Mr. Kell ; at Brid- 
port, by Mr. Howe; at Bristol, by Mr. Rowe; at Cosely, by 
Mr. Small ; at Coventry, by Mr. Davis ; at Cradley, by Mr. 
Scott ; at Dudley, by Mr. Bransby ; at Exeter, by Dr. Carpen- 
ter ; at Taunton, the pulpit being covered with black cloth, by 
Mr. Fenner and Mr. Davies ; at Walsall, by Mr. Bowen ; and 
at Wolverhampton, by Mr. Steward. " He was a burning and 
a shining light, and they were willing for a season to rejoice in 
his light." 

As a writer. Dr. Toulmin was well known to the public. His 
numerous works may be classed under the heads of biography, 
history, controversy, practical religion, and devotion. They 
bear the marks of great industry and good sense, as well as of 
that methodical arrangement of his time and thoughts which 
enabled him to carry on a very extensive correspondence in ad- 
dition to his stated labours. And while they further exhibit the 
compass of his reading, in his favourite departments of study, 
and the ardour of his mind in the noblest of all designs, they 
present in their eminently pious and benevolent spirit a distinc- 
tion before which every other excellence fades away. As a min- 
ister. Dr. Toulmin was generallj' admired. His strain of preach- 
ing was practical, devotional, scriptural, and, in the just sense of 
the word, evangelical. He was no friend to merely moral disqui- 
sitions, or to scholastic reasonings, or to speculations on points 
which confessedly are no parts of Revelation ; but he thought 
that a Cluistian preacher should discom'se on passages of the 
Bible, by illustrating their connexion and import, and then 
drawing from them natural and pertinent reflections. He felt 
pleasure in recommending Unitarian views of the Gospel ; these 



* Monthly Repository, x. 52.S. 



TAUNTON. 



207 



the continued inquiries of fifty-four years served to confirm ; his 
habits were formed under their influence ; and by his example, 
even more than by his writings, their 'practical efficacy was de- 
monstrated. To the virtues of Dr. Toulmin it would be difiicult 
to do justice. In the scale of moral and religious worth he 
stood high by the sufirages of all who had opportunities of esti- 
mating his character. He was not only distinguished by integ- 
rity, independence, fidelity, gentleness, the most exemplary 
self-government, and the kindest consideration for others ; but 
it was evident that all these qualities arose from his piety and 
Christian faith. That piety, never ostentatious, but habitually 
energetic, was manifested not only in the fervour with which he 
conducted social worship and in his administration of religious 
ordinances, but in the whole course of his life, — ^in the activity 
of his youth and manhood, in the serenity of his age, and espe- 
cially in his resignation to the Divine will, — his cheerful, thank- 
ful spirit under heavy trials. No common wound was inflicted 
on his heart by the loss of promising and amiable children. 
Still, whatever were the feelings of the man and the father, the 
principles and hopes of the Christian were unspeakably stronger; 
his eye was fixed on immortality. 

A list of Dr. Toulmin' s numerous works may be seen in the 
Monthly Repository, Vol. x. p. 670. They are arranged under 
their respective heads, and amount altogether to fifty-eight, ex- 
clusive of contributions to periodical works. 

Job David was born at Newton Nottage, Glamorganshire, 
in 1746. His father was a Baptist minister, of high character, 
at Pen-y-fai, near Bridgend. The son having been baptized 
was sent, in 1766, to the Academy at Bristol, conducted by 
Messrs. Hugh and Caleb Evans, both then in the zenith of their 
reputation. Here he remained five years ; after officiating some 
time at Pen-y-fai, he was chosen to succeed Mr. Ledgfield at 
Frome, in Somersetshire, where he was ordained Oct. 7, 1773. 
When he had lived at Frome thirty years,~ he removed to Taun- 
ton, where he officiated till his ill health obliged him to retire with 



208 



TAUNTON. 



liis family to Swansea. In the spring of 1813, lie was attacked 
bj a se\^ere illness, and he soon afterwards expired in a very 
resigned and pious frame of mind. He was interred at Pen-j-fai 
in a vault belonging to the family. On the following Sunday, 
two funeral sermons were preached at Swansea, one in Welsh 
by the Rev. T. Jenkins, the other in English by the Rev. R. 
Evans, at the Presbyterian chapel. Five small publications on 
controversial subjects proceeded from jNIr. David's pen, a list of 
which is given in the memoir from which this sketch is taken.* 

Thomas Amory, D.D. — Dr. Amory was born at Taunton, 
in 1700-1. The first part of his education was received from 
Mr. Chadwick, a Dissenting minister there. In 1717, he ac- 
companied Micaijah Towgood, who had been his schoolfellow, 
to the Academy of Messrs. James and Grove. He was examin- 
ed and approved as a candidate for the ministry in 1722 ; but, 
being desirous of still further improvement, he spent a short 
time iu attending a course of experimental philosophy imder 
iNIr, Eames, an eminent Dissenting tutor in Moorfields. 

Until the year 1730, Mr. Amory preached once a month as 
an assistant at Lambrock, near South Petherton, and at West 
Hatch and Bishop's Hull, near Taunton. He also took a part 
in the instruction of the pupils at the Academy after the death 
of Mr. James, in conjunction with his uncle and former tutor, 
Mr. Grove. In 1730, he was ordained at Paul's Meeting, 
Taunton, and united in the congregation there with Mr. Batson ; 
but in consequence of some pecuniary misunderstanding, an- 
other meeting-house was built for Mr. Amory and his friends in 
1732. Six years afterwards, on the death of Mr. Grove, he 
became chief tutor of the Academy, — an office which he fiUed 
with great success, and for which he was fitted by his zeal, in- 
tegrity, and extensive attainments. 

Mr. Amory was very happy and highly respected at Taunton ; 
but the prospect of being more useful induced him to become 



* Toulmin's History, Savage's Edit. 



TAUNTON. 



209 



afternoon preacher at the Old Jewry, London, in 1759. This 
office he exchanged for that of pastor on the death of Dr,' 
Chandler, and in 1770 he added to his other important duties 
those of a colleague with Dr. Price as mornmg preacher at ' 
Newington Green. But his ministry was not so popular in 
London as it had been in the country, which is ascribed partly 
to his philosophical style of preaching, and partly to his possess- 
ing liberal religious opinions. He had previously received, by 
diploma from the University of Edinburgh, the degree of Doctor 
in Divinity, and been elected one of the six Tuesday lecturers 
at Salters' Hall. Dr. Amory was in advance of most of his 
Presbyterian brethren on many important and interesting sub- 
jects. Although his preaching w^as generally practical, he some- ' 
times exposed with earnestness the doctrines of Calvinism, as 
conveying narrow and unworthy ideas of the Creator. He also 
rejected the doctrine of the Trinity as decidedly unscriptural ; 
but he maintained his opinions with the utmost candour, and 
cherished the sincerest aifection for those who differed from him. 
The right of private judgment was one which he held to be par- 
ticularly sacred. Disapproving of subscription to human for- 
mulas, he refused to comply with that part of the Toleration 
Act which required Dissenting ministers to subscribe to certain 
doctrinal articles. And when an attempt was made in 1 772 to 
procure an enlargement of that statute, he joined in it most 
cordially, with the conviction that it was foimded not only upon 
principles of natural justice, but also on those of genuine Chris- 
tianity. 

Although Dr. Amory was not popular as a preacher, there 
is reason to suppose he was useful. His sermons were ac- 
curate, solid, and affectionate, and his devotional services re- 
markable for their seriousness and fervour. He published many 
sermons, both separately and in volumes; a few devotional 
works ; Mr. Grove's System of Moral Philosophy, in two vols. ; 
and other less important productions. His writings indicate a 
polished, vigorous, and well stored mind, as well as an earnest 
desire to diffuse sound knowledge on all the great questions of 

P 



210 



TAUNTON, 



religion and morality. His piety was at the same time rational 
and fervent, founded on the most enlarged sentiments concern- 
ing the Divine Government, and therefore displayed in a spirit 
of cheerful devotion, love, and confidence. " It was a principle 
(continues Dr. Kippis*) that influenced his whole behaviour ; a 
principle that rendered him strictly virtuous in every respect, 
and peculiarly amiable in all the relations of life. None could 
excel him as a husband, a father, a master, and a friend." 

He retained his capacity of usefulness until within a short time 
of his death, which occurred on the 24th of June, 1774, in the 
seventy -fourth year of his age. On the morning of the day on 
which his short illness commenced, he conversed with his family 
on his favourite subject of immortality, and dwelt on the pleas- 
ing surprise with which he should hereafter meet, unspeakably 
improved, a beloved and amiable daughter whom he had lately 
lost. He was interred in Bunhill Fields; his colleague, Mr. 
White, delivered the oration, and his friend Dr. Flexman, of 
Rotherhithe, preached his funeral sermon. The following just 
and beautiful inscription appears upon his tomb-stone : 

Here is deposited the body of 
Thomas Amory, 
who, after having been employed for more than fifty years 
in humbly endeavouring to discover 

THE RELIGION OF JeSUS ChRIST 
IN ITS ORIGIN AND PURITY, 
AND IN ENDEAVOURING TO RECOMMEND IT 
TO THE FAITH AND PRACTICE OF MANKIND, 
RESTS FROM HIS LABOURS, 
AND RESIGNED HIS SPIRIT 
INTO THE HANDS OF THE FaTHER OF SpiRITS 

AND THE Father of Mercies, 

IN HUMBLE HOPE OF ACCEPTANCE AND ETERNAL LIFE 
THROUGH JeSUS ChRIST. 

* Quoted by Wilson, Diss. Churches, Vol. ii. p. 391, whei'e a more par- 
ticular account of the life of Dr. Amory may be seen, M'ith a complete list 
of his works. 



YEOVIL 



Yeovil is a large and populous town, situated in the great western 
road from London to Exeter, being distant four miles south from Ivel- 
chester, nine east from Chard, and six west from Sherborne. 

The town is pleasantly situated, being defended from the north, by 
a range of high hills finely cultivated. The surface of the surrounding 
country is pleasingly diversified and well wooded. 

There was formerly a large manufacture of woollen cloth ; but now 
the principal one is of leather gloves, in which a great number of 
hands are constantly employed. — Collinson. 

Population in 1811,-3118 ; in 1821,-4655 ; in 1831,-5921. 



VICARAGE STREET CHAPEL. 



The town of Yeovil is interesting on account of 
its various religious antiquities. For many years 
after the Conquest the manor was vested in the 
successive rectors of the parish. In 1418, Henry 
the Fifth granted it, together with the rectory, to 
the Abhot and Convent of the Virgin Mary and St. 
Bridget, which he had founded at Sion, in Middle- 
sex. On the dissolution of that monastery, Henry 
the Eighth granted the w^hole to his consort Queen 
Catherine; and from that time it continued in the 
crown till the reign of James the First, who gave 
it to two private individuals. The extent of the 
ecclesiastical establishments in Yeovil may be ima- 
gined from the fact that, in 1449, one hundred and 
seventeen houses w^ere destroyed by fii'e, among 
which were fifteen belonging to the chantry of the 
Holy Trinity, founded i7i the parish church ; eleven 
belonging to the chantry of the Virgin Mary, 
without the church ; nineteen belonging to another 
chantry of the Virgin Mary, within the church, 
and two belonging to the alms-house. * 

Notwithstanding the changes which had taken 



* Collinson's History of Somersetshire, Vol. iii. p. 203. 



YEOVIL. 



213 



place in ecclesiastical property, prior to the year 
1662, the income and influence of the vicar of 
Yeovil at that time were considerable. But Henry 
Butler, the noble-minded man who then enjoyed 
them, esteemed liberty of conscience far more, and 
vv^illingly gave up his living rather than comply v^ith 
the terms of the Act of Uniformity. To him the 
Unitarian congregation owes its origin ; and it is 
worthy of remark, that a few of the most useful of 
the present members are his lineal descendants. 
His profession at all hazards of what he deemed to 
be the truth, and his repeated sufferings for con- 
science' sake, appear to have produced an attach- 
ment to the great principles of religious liberty 
which has been handed down from generation to 
generation, to the present time. 

Mr. Butler, after his ejectment, had many adhe- 
rents, among whom he continued his ministry. For 
twenty-six years they held their meetings irregularly, 
in consequence of the severe enactments against 
Nonconformity. The village of Compton, near 
Yeovil, was the place to which Mr. Butler and his 
friends most frequently resorted. Many were the 
precautions they were obliged to adopt before they 
could assemble to worship their Creator in spirit 
and in truth. And yet the little flock were severely 
persecuted, both minister and people having been 
on various trifling pretexts thrown into llchester 
gaol, tried at the assizes, and forced to pay heavy 
fines. This state of things continued till the passing 
of the Toleration Act, by which the people were 



214 



YEOVIL. 



enabled to hire a house or room in the town of 
Yeovil. Still Mr, Butler found his situation dan- 
gerous^ and at length removed to a place near 
Frome, where he became pastor of another Dissent- 
ing congregation. Here his zeal burned with the 
same ardour; — ^'no danger from enemies^ weather^ 
or indisposition of body, hindered him from meeting 
his people, in private houses or in Sir Edward Sey- 
mour s woods, as was thought most safe." Though 
he had only twenty pounds per annum, nothing 
would tempt him to leave his people. He died in 
1696, aged 72, and his last words were, ^'A broken 
and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."* 
After Mr. Butler's removal, the congregation at 
Yeovil were some time without a pastor. About 
the year 1700, they chose Mr. Bartlett, who had 
been ejected from Compton, but was still officiating 
in that village. In 1704 they purchased the ground 
on which their temporary place of worship stood, and 
erected a new meeting-house. It was originally the 
site of the chantry dedicated to the Virgin Mary, 
already mentioned as without the church. The 
deed by which this property was secured to the 
congregation bears date May 30th, 1704. At this 
period, and till his death in 1710, Mr. Bartlett di- 
vided his labours between Compton and Yeovil 
every Lord's Day. He also was exposed to a series 
of harassing persecutions by the neighbouring ma- 
gistrates. Yeovil being in one county and Compton 
in another, he sometimes eluded their warrants for 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 338. t Gosjid Advocate, Vol. i. p. 349. 



YEOVIL. 



215 



his apprehension. On one occasion, the justices of 
both places combined to silence him ; but even this 
scheme did not answer. Mr. Bartlett, supported by 
a Higher Power, was enabled to preserve both his 
integrity and his safety, and saw his two churches 
flourish under his care. Two memorials of his 
ministry in Yeovil still remain. One is a monument 
which was originally within the chapel, but is now 
outside, near the entrance ; it bears a Latin inscrip- 
tion, in which honourable mention is made of his 
talents and virtues. The other is a copy of Mr. Bax- 
ter's works, with the following words on the cover : 

"Mr. Baxter's works in 4 
Volumes : the gift of I. T., 

Citizen of London, to 
Mr. Ed. Bartlett, minister in 
Yeovill, and on his decease 
to his successor in the 

MINISTRY there. 

Ano. Dom. 1708." 

Mr, Bartlett was succeeded by Dr. Lobb, and 
Dr. Lobb by Dr. Milner. Of both these ministers, 
as well as of their predecessors, distinct memoirs 
will be given. Dr. Milner quitted Yeovil in 1744, 
and was followed by Mr. John Glass, who removed 
from Collumpton and remained at Yeovil six years. 
The next minister was Mr. John Ward, well-known 
in the West of England as the pastor, for many 
years, of the Presbyterian congregation at Taunton. 
On his removal to that town, in 1759, the Yeovil 
people elected Mr. Samuel Thomas. This gentle- 
man settled here soon after he finished his acade- 



216 



YEOVIL. 



mical studies at Carmarthen^ and continued much 
respected till 1767. He then accepted an invitation 
to succeed Dr. John Leland, as colleague with Dr. 
Isaac Weld, in the care of the Presbyterian congre- 
gation, Eustace Street, Dublin.* 

We now come to Mr. Samuel Perrot, who had 
also been educated at the Carmarthen Academy, of 
which his father, the Rev. Thomas Perrot, was 
many years the President. Before he went to Yeovil 
he officiated successively at Frome and Devizes, and 
after remaining here two years removed to Cork^ 
at which place he was minister till his death in 
1796. Mr, Perrot's successor here was Mr. David 
Grraham, whose name occurs in a list of Dr. Dod- 
dridge's students at Northampton, where he is said 
to have entered in the year 1746. When he had 
completed his academical course, he settled at 
Tewkesbury, and some years afterwards became the 
minister of this society ; here he ended his labours 
and his life, in 1778, aged 46. He was followed 
by Mr. James Marshall, a pupil of Dr. Rees and 
Dr. Kippis, at Hoxton ; he soon left Yeovil, gave 
up the ministry, and devoted himself to literary 
pursuits in the metropolis. Of his successor, Mr, 
Howel, I have given some account in the histories 
of other congregations. 

* Mr. Thomas died at Dublin, in 1786, in his 48th year. His funeral 
sermon was preached by his colleague, Mr. Philip Taylor, the son-in-law 
and successor of Dr. Weld. This discourse, which was afterwards pub- 
lished, conveys a high opinion of the mental and moral qualities of Mr. 
Thomas. See also an interesting account of the Dublin ministers, in an 
appendix to the services on the ordination of the Rev. James Martincau. 

f Mon. Repos., Vol. x. p. 687. 



YEOVIL. 



217 



The notice of this gentleman brings us to the 
end of the last century. Prior to his removal^ the 
numbers of this society were greatly reduced. This 
may be ascribed to various causes^ but more par- 
ticularly to the formation of other Dissenting 
churches and the increasing unpopularity of Uni- 
tarianism. It appears that as early as 1722 the 
Presbyterians at Yeovil had a minister of hetero- 
dox" sentiments. We knov^ not how far Dr. Milner 
departed from the standard of orthodoxy^ but his 
sermon at the ordination of Mr. Amory was unu 
sually liberal. There is reason to suppose that all 
the subsequent ministers have been Anti-trinita- 
rians ; — some were generally considered Arians ; 
three or four agreed with Mr. Lindsey and Dr. 
Priestley. It was during the excitement occasioned 
by the persecution of the latter that the Yeovil con- 
gregation most rapidly declined. After Mr. Howel's 
removal, Mr. Blake, of Crewkerne, preached here 
about a year, and Mr. Tomline, of Northampton- 
shire, also a short time. The meeting-house was 
then closed for several years; but in 1801 it was 
re-opened by the Rev. Samuel Fawcett, vv^ho con- 
sented to become the minister ; and from this period 
the prospects of the society gradually brightened. 
This venerable man is the son of the Rev. B. 
Fawcett, of Kidderminster, who was the editor of 
Baxters '"Saint's Everlasting Rest" and a warm 
admirer of that prince of Puritans. The visitor at 
Mr. Fawcett's picturesque residence near Yeovil, is 
reminded of these incidents by original and striking 



218 



YEOVIL. 



portraits of Mr. Baxter and Mr. Benjamin Fawcett. 
The subject of this sketch was educated at Daventry, 
under Dr. Ashworth, and was for some time a 
fellow-student of the late Mr. Belsham^ like whom 
he was originally of Calvinistic sentiments. More 
than fourscore winters have now passed over his 
head; he retains as firm a conviction as ever of the 
truth of his principles, and feels as powerfully as 
ever their inestimable value. 

In the year 1809, the old meeting-house was 
taken down and the present erected on the same 
site. This building is rather small, and has a 
greater appearance of antiquity than might have 
been expected. The singing is conducted, with 
the assistance of a small organ, on a few benches, 
between the doors and opposite the pulpit, elevated, 
like the latter, a little above the pews. At the 
opening of this chapel, November 8, 1809, Mr. 
Butcher, of Sidmouth, preached in the morning, on 
John iv. 23, 24, and Mr. Howe, of Bridport, in the 
evening, on 1 Tim. i. 1, 2. Most of the pews in 
the new building had been previously taken by 
persons who had not been in the habit of attending 
Unitarian worship.* 

Seven years afterwards Mr. Fawcett relinquished 
the pastoral office, in consequence of ill health, and 
was succeeded by Dr. Southwood Smith, whose 
valuable publications, both on Theology and Medi- 
cine, are well known. Few books have been more 
extensively read and admired, by those who are 

* Mon. Rcpos., Vol. v. p. 101. 



YEOVIL. 



219 



anxious to possess cheering views of the Deity, than 
Dr. Smith's Illustrations of the Divine Grovernment. 
This gentleman left Yeovil, in 1820, in order to 
devote himself more closely to the medical profes- 
sion, of w^hich he is now an ornament in the metro- 
polis. The congregation weie then served, a short 
time, by Mr. John Owen, from the York College, 
who removed to Tamworth, in Warwickshire, where 
he now resides. He was succeeded by Mr. David 
Hughes, who continued here eleven years. In 1830 
the congregation were encouraged, by liberal offers 
of pecuniary assistance, to build a house for the 
minister on ground belonging to the society, and 
situated at a short distance from the town; but 
before the abode was finished, Mr. Hughes removed 
to America, for the purpose of providing more satis- 
factorily for his family. Of the present circum- 
stances of the society an opinion may be formed 
from an account, in a useful work published monthly 
at Exeter,* of a recent congregational meeting. 
At this meeting a report was read, from which it 
appeared that the attendance at the chapel had con- 
siderably increased, that the library and Sunday- 
school were in a satisfactory state, and that much 
interest had been excited by a course of lectures by 
the present minister, Mr. Jenkins, on Natural and 
Revealed Religion. 

* The Gospel Advocate, Vol. i. p. 323. 



220 



YEOVIL. 



Henry Butler 1662 — 

Robert Bartlett 1700 — 1710. 

Theophilus Lobb, M. D 1713—1722. 

John Milner, D. D 1722—1744. 

Robert Glass 1746 — 1752. 

John Ward 1752—1759. 

Samuel ThOxMAS 1759 — 1767. 

Samuel Perrot 1768 — 1770. 

David Graham 1770 — 1778. 

James Marshall 1778 — 178J. 

John Howel 1783—1793. 

Samuel Fawcett 1801 — 1816. 

T. Southwood Smith, M.D 1816—1820. 

John Owen 1820—1821. 

David Hughes 1821-1832. 

John Jenkins 1832. 



Edward Bartlett.* — The account of Mr. Bartlett's iutro, 
duction to the ministry maybe given in his own words. Haviug 
been summoned to appear before a court of justice, to answer a 
frivolous charge of sedition, he was asked by what authority he 
preached ; he answered, " I am ordained to the ministry, and 
woe is me if I preach not the gospel !" and he uttered the last 
words with such solemn seriousness, that the justices were sur- 
prised and for a while continued silent. At length one of them 
asked him whether he had been ordained by a bishop; he 

* This minister is called Robert Bartlett in the Nonconformists' Memo- 
rial, but from the inscription on Mr. Baxter's works it appears that his 
name was Edward or Ednumd, probably the former. 



YEOVIL. 



221 



replied, There was no bishop at that time, but I was ordained 
by laying on of the hands of the Presbytery." 

Mr. Bartlett first preached as a lecturer at Old Sarum, in 
1652. After filling this office two years, he removed to Over 
Compton, where he discharged his pastoral duties till 1662. 
He afterwards removed to Bradford, a neighbouring parish, 
and occasionally preached to some of his affectionate adherents 
in a private house. When he had been here three years, the 
Five-mile Act obliged him to go farther off, and he went to 
Cadbury, where he lived with his family about twenty years, 
privately exercising his ministry till the passing of the Tolera- 
tion Act, when he took up his abode at Lower Compton. The 
remainder of his history is given in the account of the congre- 
gation. He is said to have been a judicious, learned man, of 
the congregational persuasion, but very moderate and of a heal- 
ing spirit. He was humble in his deportment ; a plain, affec- 
tionate, popular preacher ; and took great pains to speak to the 
capacities of his hearers. When he had liberty to preach pub- 
licly and according to his own mind, his plan was to begin with 
a short speech of five or six minutes, in order to solemnize the 
minds of the people ; and they were all so desirous of hearing 
it, that the whole congregation was generally present before he 
began. * 

Theophilus Lobb, M.D,, F.R.S., was born in London, in 
the year 1678. His father, the Rev. Stephen Lobb, was many 
years pastor of an Independent congregation in the metropolis. 
His grandfather was High Sheriff of Cornwall, and, in the year 
]659, M. P. for St. Michael's, in that county. By his mother's 
side he was descended from two ejected ministers, the Rev. 
Theophilus Polwhele, of Tiverton, her father, and the Rev. 
William Benn, of Dorchester, her grandfather. Mr. Lobb 
pursued his studies for the ministry, first under Mr. Payne, at 
Saffron Walden, and afterwards at Pinner, in Middlesex, under 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 46.3. 



222 



YEOVIL. 



the Rev. Thomas Goodwm. From his oliildhood he had also 
an inclination to the study of physic, and took every opportu- 
nity of cultivating that science. In 1702 he settled as a Dis- 
senting minister in the town of Guildford, where he met with 
an eminent practitioner in physic, who was very friendly, and 
from whom he derived much instruction. About this time 
he miarried Frances, daughter of Dr. Cook, a physician in the 
West of England, and a descendant of the famous Sir Walter 
Raleigh. 

After residing four years at Guildford, Mr. Lobb removed to 
Shaftesbury, where he continued six years, and began to prac- 
tise as a physician. From thence, about the year 1713, he 
removed to Yeovil. On this occasion he entered into a cove- 
nant with God, which he wrote at length, copying it chiefly from 
Shower's Character of a Real Christian. This he renewed 
several times afterwards. His residence at Yeovil was remark- 
able for the prosperity which attended his worldly circumstances, 
and the success and reputation he acquired as a physician. He 
also greatly prospered in his religious concerns. In his diary he 
takes particular notice of the various mercies for which at this 
period he had reason to be thankful. 

Dr. Lobb quitted Yeovil in 1722, and settled at Witham, in 
Essex. In the former place his health was not good, and there 
were differences in his congregation respecting singing; one 
party being for the introduction of new tunes, and the other 
against it. As both blamed him in the affair, though he acted 
with much caution, his situation was far from pleasant. 

It was in the course of the same year that he received from 
Glasgow a diploma, creating him Doctor of Physic. After con- 
tinuing ten years at Witham, Dr. Lobb removed to London, in 
consequence of an invitation from the society at Haberdashers' 
Hall. At the time of his settlement with this people, they were 
much reduced in number; and his ministry did not tend to 
revive them. In 1734 the congregation was dissolved ; and he 
ihen, with the advice of several of liis brethren, applied wholly 
to the practice of physic. Even when he resided at Yeovil, he 



YEOVIL. 



223 



met with such success as a medical man, that it was predicted 
the Doctor would spoil the Divine, and that he would even- 
tually give up the ministrj. He declares, however, that he was 
not conscious to himself of the least inclination, at anj time, to 
relinquish his sacred calling, for the sake of any worldly advan- 
tage ; and that when an end was put to his exercise of the pas- 
toral office, by the breaking up of his congregation, it was a 
source of deep regret to him. 

It was supposed by some, that on his giving up the ministry 
he would consult his interest by conforming to the Church of 
England. But he was firmly resolved to continue a Dissenter, 
and joined the Independent church in New Court, Carey Street, 
under the care of the Rev. Thomas Bradbury. During his 
residence in the country. Dr. Lobb published several pieces with 
a view to promote the practice of religion, and after his removal 
to London, he gave to the world various books upon medical 
subjects.* His life was prolonged to the age of fourscore and 
five. He retained nearly to the last all his faculties unimpaired. 
About a month before his death he was rather low-spirited ; 
upon which he remarked, "I know not what should be the 
reason of it : my good Master will not let his old servant want 
for any thing in this world, and I have a well-grounded hope 
through grace of being happy in the other." He died May the 
19th, 1763, and his remains were interred in Bunhill Fields. 

John Milner, D. D. — This learned divine was born in 
1688. His academical studies were pursued under the Rev. 
John Moore, at Bridgwater. It is not known where he spent 
the first years of his ministry, but about 1722 he settled at 
Yeovil ; here he conducted a large and respectable school. In 
1729, he published a Latin Grammar ; in 1732, a Greek Gram- 
mar; and in 1736, a Treatise on Rhetoric. In addition to 
these he gave the world several other works, arising owt of his 

* A list of these and other particulars of the life of Dr. Lobb may be 
found in Wilson's History, Vol. iii. p. 147. 



224 



YEOVIL. 



employment as a sclioolmaster, all evincing an extensive ac- 
quaintance with the learned languages. In 1730, Dr. Milner 
delivered at Taunton a discourse at the ordination of Mr. 
Amor J, in which he inculcated the most candid and enlightened 
sentiments. In 1741 he accepted an invitation to become 
pastor of a congregation at Peckham, near London. To this 
place he also transferred liis school, which continued to enjoj a 
high reputation: at one period he had the celebrated Oliver 
Goldsmith for his usher. In these employments Dr. Milner 
continued till his death, June 24th, 1757. He published several 
single sermons, and a small volume of discourses addressed to 
the poor,* 

John Ward was born at Coleshill, in Warwickshire, about 
the year 1712. His father was a mercer in that town, but 
obliged to remove by the odium against him on account of his 
Whig principles. He was also connected with the celebrated 
Daniel De Foe, and is said to have suffered in his fortune in 
consequence of the ill success of that author's plans. 

The son, then very young, w^as taken into the house of a 
pious and worthy aunt. For the commencement of his classical 
education he was indebted to the Rev. Julius Saunders, of 
Bedworth, and the Rev. Edward Brodhurst, of Birmingham. 
He studied for the ministry under Dr. Latham, at Findern, 
where he formed an acquaintance with Dr. Johnson and INIr. 
Garrick; the latter called on him, many years afterwards, at 
Taunton. 

Mr. Ward's first settlement was at Witney. During his 
residence there, the rebellion of 1745 broke out; and he was 
one of those who, being alarmed for the safety of the House of 
Hanover, bore arms as a soldier. In J 747 we find him pur- 
suing his own proper and peaceful profession in the metropolis, 
as pastor of a congregation in Maid Lane, Southwark. Here 
he remained till 1752, when the reduced state of the society 

* Wilson. 



YEOVIL. 



225 



determined them to dissolve ; and having declined an offer to 
become a colleague with Dr. Chandler, at the Old Jewry, Mr. 
Ward accepted an invitation from Yeovil. Lastly, he was in- 
duced, in 1759, on Dr. iVmory's removal to London, to succeed 
him at the New Meeting in Taunton. Here he officiated thirty- 
three years. His increasing infirmities led him to relinquish 
the ministry in 1792, and five years afterwards he died, at the 
advanced age of eighty-four. 

The talents and character of Mr. Ward are mentioned in 
high terms. Dr. Doddridge, Dr. Chandler, and Dr. Toulmin, 
all testify to the excellence both of his head and heart. With 
a considerable natural genius, a tenacious memory, and a sound 
judgment, he was a diligent reader, and an agreeable compa- 
nion. His sermons were solid and comprehensive ; his prayers, 
whetber public or domestic, most excellent, always the fervent 
effusions of a spirit habitually devout. " Frequently (says his" 
biographer*) have I been struck and affected with his propriety 
and energy, and yet conciseness, in that act of devotion which 
should seriously accompany the repast of our table, but which 
is generally performed in the most thoughtless and cursory 
maimer." But the most prominent feature of his character was 
integrity. Having formed his opinions carefully, he invariably 
acted upon them at all hazards, whether in connexion with 
political, religious, or social affairs. We have seen that he had 
the moral courage to blend the character of a soldier with that 
of a minister of the gospel, when he deemed the interests of 
liberty at stake. By the same rule he was led in after life to 
avoid most scrupulously the slighest evasion of a national 
impost ; and though disposed to reprobate particular measures 
which required new taxes, he contended that all existing laws in 
reference to the revenue should be obeyed. With regard to reli- 
gious concerns he was peculiarly under the influence of this 
principle of uprightness. During his academical course he 
set no bounds to his inquiries, and fearlessly followed Truth 
whei-ever she led him, which was often far from the paths of 



* Dr. Toulmin. See P. D. M., Vol. iv. p. 241. 
Q 



226 



YEOVIL, 



Calvinism, in which his childhood had been spent. In the 
pulpit he cautiously refrained from using phrases calculated to 
convey erroneous ideas ; nor would he allow himself to be 
present, on any occasion, where he knew a Trinitarian doxology 
would be offered. Often was he disposed to praise God for the 
light which had been diffused, in his time, by the examples of 
upright inquirers. Dr. Priestley and Mr. Lindsey he held in 
the highest estimation, and from their writings he derived great 
gratification and improvement. Mr. Ward had a dread of 
adding to the institutions of Christianity ; hence his refusal to 
officiate on Christmas Day and the Fifth of November, and 
hence his objection to funeral services, which he expressly pro- 
hibited in the case of Mrs. Ward, and afterwards in his own, as 
having no precedent in scripture, and being a relic of the 
doctrine of purgatory. Some of these scruples may appear 
unwise, but the principle from which they emanated demands 
high admiration; and when exercised with that humility for 
which the subject of this memoir was conspicuous, it cannot 
fail to render the Christian useful, respected, and beloved, happy 
both in life and in death. 



David Hughes was the son of a venerable minister of the 
same name, once settled at Wincanton, and a brother of the 
Rev. John Hughes, long minister at Honiton. For many years 
he devoted himself to business, at Kingsbridge, in Devonshire, 
and possessed considerable reputation on account of his mecha- 
nical and scientific attainments. Becoming unsuccessful, and 
having a good share of theological knowledge, a deep comdction 
of the importance of religion, and an earnest desire to do good, 
he directed his attention to the Christian ministry. In the year 
1821 he received an invitation from Yeovil, and accordingly 
removed thither with a large family. Here he laboured zeal- 
ously : his pulpit and pastoral services were much valued, and 
he was highly respected by his brethren in the district. How- 
ever, in 1832 he was induced to emigrate to xAmerica, by the 



YEOVIL. 227 

hope of finding in that country those means of providing for his 
large family which he could not procure in his native land. 

Mr. Hughes left England about the end of May, and reached 
Montreal after a voyage of nine weeks. The period of his 
arrival was one of the greatest distress in this part of Canada, 
in consequence of the devastation produced by the ravages of 
the cholera. Such was the state of the town, that accommoda- 
tion could only be obtained for the travellers by the active inter- 
position of a gentleman to whom Mr. Hughes made himself 
known, and whose kindness to him and his family was most 
invaluable. Mr. Teulon, the friend to whom we refer, imme- 
diately made known the arrival of an Unitarian minister to 
other Unitarians in Montreal ; the strongest interest was imme- 
diately excited, and several merchants and their ladies called on 
him to offer every assistance in furthering his views. A depu- 
tation also waited on him to solicit a service on the following 
Lord's Day ; he assented ; for some particular reason they then 
requested him to preach on a given text — " Christ and him cru- 
cified" — to this he also assented ; on which they applied at the 
whole round of chapels for the use of a pulpit, but were uni- 
formly repulsed. They then obtained permission to use a school- 
room, where Mr. Hughes addressed about eighty Unitarians, with 
such acceptance that they determined, if possible, to fix him 
with them ; they immediately subscribed £60 for fitting up a 
store-room, capable of acccommodating one hundred persons, 
and negotiated for a dwelling-house in which to settle his 
family.* Having preached twice on the Sunday, and once in 
the week, on the 9th of August he embarked in the steam-boat 
to accompany his daughter to the house of a lady with whom 
she had been previously engaged to reside. He left his family 
in good health and spirits, but was soon afterwards attacked by 
the mysterious disease then prevalent ; and within sixteen hours 
all his cares and troubles were over, — he breathed his last. 
During Mr. Hughes's short stay in Montreal, he had endeared 
himself to his brethren by an unassuming piety, a suavity and 



* Unit. Chron., Vol. i. p. 2G2. 

q2 



228 



YEOVIL. 



benignity of disposition, and a calm and rational annunciation 
of what he believed to be the truth of God. Scenes of future 
usefulness, in the service of his Heavenlj Father, seemed to be 
opening for him; great was the disappointment of those who had 
tried to secure the benefits of his ministry ; bitter was the 
anguish of the widow and fatherless, but they were able to say^ 
in the spirit of Christian resignation, to Him whose providence 
does nothing in vain, " Father, not our will, but thine be done." 



ILMINSTER 



This name is Saxon, signifying the church upon the river lie. 
The town stands on the turnpike road leading from Somerton to 
Chard, and from Taunton to Crewkerne, and is distant twelve mUes 
south-east from Taunton, five north from Chard, and ten south from 
Langport. The situation is low, but very pleasant. 

History has been silent concerning this place during the many cen- 
turies in which it was possessed by the Abbots of Muchelney, — a case, 
indeed, common enough with places that belonged to monastic socie- 
ties. The abbots had a grange here in a spot near the church, now 
called Court Barton, on the east side of which there is a house called 
Court Hall, now converted into a meeting-house for the Society of 
Friends. 

In a field north-west of the town, called Beacon Field, a very beau- 
tiful and extensive prospect opens to the view, extending northward 
over a rich flat country, to Mendip Hills, eastward into part of Dor- 
setshire, and southward to Bere and Seaton, on the sea-coast, and 
part of Devonshire. The surrounding country is so very populous, 
that from one spot on this eminence the eye commands thirty parish 
churches within the distance of eight miles. — Collinson. 

Population in 1811,-2160; in 1821,-2156; in 1831,-2957. 



OLD MEETING. 



The minister ejected from this parish was Mr. 
William Alsop. He removed to London, probably 
soon after the passing of the Act of Uniformity. 
To him, however, this congregation owes its origin; 
and the remembrance of his example and instruc- 
tions influenced the earliest members long after his 
removal. About the year 1675, Mr. William Hunt, 
an ejected schoolmaster, removed to Ilminster. He 
was master of the free-school at Salisbury till 1662; 
and ten years afterwards, on the declaration of indul- 
gence, was chosen one of the ministers of the Dis- 
senting congregation in that city. The declaration 
being recalled, he was again deprived of a useful 
and honourable employment; it was some time 
afterwards that he removed to Ilminster, near which 
town he was born ; here he resumed his office as a 
schoolmaster, for which his extensive acquirements 
well fitted him ; but he was once more obliged to 
cease, and in 1684 he died.* 

It may be supposed that this excellent man pri- 
vately, aided the cause of Nonconformity at Ilmin- 
ster. The first regularly appointed pastor appears 

* Noncon. Mcni., Vol. ii. p. f)4i>. 



ILMINSTER. 



231 



to have been Mr. Edmund Batson, who settled here 
in 1694, soon after he had finished his studies at 
Taunton. Three years afterwards, he was succeed- 
ed by Mr. Thomas Marshall, who continued to offi- 
ciate till his death, which occurred in the early part 
of the eighteenth century. The congregation then 
elected his son, Mr. Nicholas Marshall ; in 1716, 
this minister had three hundred hearers, and the 
society afterwards flourished under his care ; he 
died in 1725. 

At a very early period the Nonconformists at II- 
minster, who, like those in most other places, called 
themselves Presbyterians, provided themselves with 
a place of worship. The first house of prayer was 
probably small; but the number of Mr. N. Marshall's 
hearers warranted the erection of another building, 
which was accomplished in the year 1719. The 
exact site of the former is unknown; that of the 
present is near one of the principal entrances to the 
town. It has been enlarged since it was first built, 
and is now capable of seating more than four hun- 
dred persons. Its appearance is interesting ; in the 
front are two gothic windows; the approach is 
through a burial-ground, where rest the remains of 
several ministers and members of the society. 

Mr. Nicholas Marshall was succeeded in 1725 
by Mr. James Strong and Mr. Thomas Collins. 
Mr. Collins had been, for seven years, the minister 
of a Presbyterian congregation at Temple Coombe, 
in the neighbourhood. He probably continued to 
fill the office of pastor there in conjunction with 



232 



ILMINSTER. 



that of assistant to Mr. Strong at Ilminster. In 
1735, Mr. Collins removed to Bridport, and Mr. 
Strong undertook the whole charge, which he re- 
tained till 1738, when he died. Though the con- 
gregation was numerous at this period, the salary 
of Mr. Strong, after the retirement of his colleague, 
was only £4:0. per annum. 

. On the choice of a successor to Mr. Strong, there 
was a division ; and those who disapproved of the 
election of Mr. West withdrew, and built another 
meeting-house at Broadway. Whether this seces- 
sion was occasioned by a difference in the tastes or 
in the sentiments of the people, I have not been 
able to ascertain ; it was probably the latter. Col- 
lins, Strong, and West, were all in advance of their 
contemporaries on points relating to religious liberty, 
as well as on the doctrine of the Trinity and the 
distinguishing tenets of Calvin. Concerning the 
opinions of Mr. Nicholas Marshall, during whose 
ministry the present chapel was built, we have no 
means of judging ; but the appointment of Collins 
and Strong as his successors indicates that the con- 
gregation had been infected with the Ariomania"* 
of the West of England. Most of the successors 
of those gentlemen have been dissatisfied with the 
prominent features of "'orthodoxy," and have at- 
tached peculiar importance to the practice of wor- 
shiping ''One God the Father," in contradistinc- 

* The term given by Messrs. Bogue and Bennett to those w ho followed 
the example of Pcircc, Hallct, Foster, Stogdon, and Billingslcy. 



ILMINSTER. 



233 



tion to "'One God in Three/' and "'Three Gods m 
One." 

The names of the subsequent pastors will be 
given in the usual list and a few particulars of 
their lives in the biographical department. 

The congregation continued large till about the 
year 1770. Before that time there were no other 
Dissenting chapels in the town^ and few in the 
neighbourhood. Afterwards^ the people who once 
came from the surrounding villages to worship in 
the Presbyterian chapel erected buildings for them- 
selves. The inhabitants at Ilminster have at pre- 
sent an Independent chapeb a small society of 
Methodists^ and the nucleus of a Baptist congrega- 
tion. These circumstances, and the fearless avowal 
of Unitarian sentiments on every suitable occasion^ 
have been, of late years, unfavourable to the nu- 
merical strength of this ancient church. The pre- 
sent number, however, is not inconsiderable; it 
amounts to about one hundred and forty, exclusive 
of a thriving and well-conducted Sunday-school, 
consisting of a hundred children. This institution 
was commenced in the year 1790 ; the present min- 
ister has paid much attention to it, and has been 
ably supported by his young friends. The congre- 
gation also support a chapel library and a fellow- 
ship fund. 



234 



ILMINSTER. 



William Alsop 1662— 

William Hunt, M. A 1675—1684. 

Edmund Batson 1693 — 1697, 

Thomas Marshall ... , 1697 — 1705. 

Nicholas Marshall 1705 — 1725. 

Thomas Collins 1725 — 1735. 

James Strong 1725 — 1738. 

William West 1738—1744. 

John Cranch 1745 — 1746. 

Joseph Keech 1747 — 1776. 

Jacob Hayes 1776 — 1780. 

Richard Parminter 1781 — 1787. 

Thomas Jeremy 1787 — 1788. 

John Taylor 1788—1790. 

John Noon ]788— 1791. 

Joseph Gummer 1791 — 1798. 

William Tullidelph Proctor 1799 — 180L 

James R. Harris 1802—1808. 

John Evans 1809— ] 816. 

William Williams 1818—1819. 

Thomas Bo wen 1820—1823. 

Edward Whitfield 1823. 



The Rev. EDMUND Batson was a student under Mr. War- 
ren, and began to preach in 1693. His first settlement was at 
Ilminster, from whence he removed to Clapham, in 1697, where 
he continued till 1706 ; he then succeeded Mr. Matthew Warren 
and Mr. Emanuel Hartford, the respected pastors of Paul's Meet- 
ing, Taunton. For some years he had a colleague in the pas- 
toral office, Mr. Thomas Cornish, who dying in J 7 14, Mr. Bat- 



ILMINSTER. 



235 



son continued sole pastor till about the year 1730, when Mr. 
iVmory was chosen to assist him. Although requiring his aid on 
account as well of his advanced age and many infirmities as of 
the great labours of his office, he would not relinquish any part 
of his salary, which so displeased some members of his congre- 
gation, that they withdrew and formed another society, of which 
Mr. Amory became the pastor. Before the division, the Pres- 
byterian congregation at Taunton consisted of fifteen hundred 
hearers, and so great was the throng, that unless persons went 
early it was with difficulty they could get to their pews. Mr. 
Batson was entirely laid aside by the infirmities of age for two 
years before his death, which happened in 1735.* 

The Rev. James Strong was born in 1686, and received 
his education in the Academy at Taunton. He was ordained 
at Gunrowson, in Cornwall, where he preached a few years. 
His next settlement was at Langport, from which place he re- 
moved to Ilminster in 1725. In this situation he closed his life 
and labours, May 21st, 1738, in the fifty -third year of his age. 

Mr. Strong was the author of "The Assembly's Shorter 
Catechism revised, and rendered fit for general use." This 
being composed upon the Anti-Calvinistic plan, drew forth some 
" Remarks" fi-om the pen of Dr. Guyse, of London, which were 
replied to by Mr. Strong. He also published "A Sermon on the 
death of the Rev. and learned Mr. Henry Grove, preached at 
Taunton, March 3, 1738." His own funeral discourse, preached 
by Mr. Amory, was published " at the unanimous request of the 
ministers present." The following passages shew in what manner 
Mr. Strong discharged his ministerial duties. " He sought for 
Christianity in the Scriptures by a critical and constant study of 
them, and by earnest prayer. These were the standard of his 
faith and practice, and by these he tried the creeds and systems 
of fallible men. He did not, as the manner of too many is, first 
settle his faith by the favourite opinions of a party, and then 



Toulmin's History of Taunton. 



236 



ILMINSTER. 



read tlie Scriptures with a disposition to see nothing in them 
which would not agree with these : but he endeavoured to find 
the genuine sense of the sacred writings, and by this tried the 
truth of opinions he had before embraced, or that were afterward 
recommended. This impartial study of the Scriptures, joined 
with a solid judgment and an honest heart, and succeeded by 
the Divine blessing, qualified him to recommend to advantage 
the best religion to his hearers." — "Farther, he was a thorough 
and a consistent Dissenter. A regard to Christ as sole King 
and Lord in his church, to the sacred Scriptures as a perfect 
rule of faith and manners, and to the unalienable rights of con- 
science and private judgment, — determined him to dissent from 
the Established Church, and reject their claims of authority in 
matters religious, and their additions to the faith and worship of 
the gospel. This same principle made him also reject equally 
like claims and additions made by those who, dissenting from 
the national church, and without the countenance of the civil 
magistrate, pretend, with a very ill grace, to a power they con- 
demn in others ; and, self-condemned, invade those rights of 
conscience they maintain as sacred against the Establishment. 
As he disliked every thing of an imposing temper in others, he 
kept clear of it himself ; he stood fast in the liberty wherewith 
Christ had made him free, and abhorred to lord it over God's 
heritage ; allowing all the same liberty he took for himself j and 
maintaining a great esteem and friendship for those who, in 
pursuance of this liberty, greatly differed from the sentiments he 
embraced as true."* 



OTHER MINISTERS AT ILMINSTER. 

Mr. Cranch removed from Modbury, and continued pastor 
here till his death, March 25, 1745. 

Mr. Keech, chosen two years afterwards, also ended his days 
here in 1770. 



* Amory's Sermon on the Death of Strong, 1738, p. 33. 



ILMINSTER. 



237 



Mr. Hayes, a native of Broadway, pursued his studies under 
Mr. Rooker, at Bridport, and gave up the ministry in this town. 

Mr. Parminter, another of Mr. Booker's pupils, lived some 
time as a minister at Wellington, preached a few months, during 
Mr. Fawcett's illness, at Kidderminster, and then settled at II- 
minster, whence he removed to Widdiscombe, where he died. 

Mr. Noon was a native of Leicestershire, and educated at 
Daventry ; he left this congregation for one at Lambrook, and 
went from Lambrook to Poole, but not as a preacher. 

Mr, Taylor became a Quaker, and kept a school in Lan- 
cashire after he resigned his connexion with Mr. Noon ; he had 
previously been, for a short time, successively classical tutor at 
Daventry, and minister at Walmesley. 

Mr. GUMMER was born in the neighbourhood of South Pether- 
ton ; he also was a Daventry student. Before he settled at II- 
minster he officiated both at Hereford and Worcester ; he after- 
wards lived in London and other places, but without a stated 
charge. 

Mr. Proctor, the son of Mr. Proctor, of Oldbury, received 
his academical education at Northampton. 

Mr. Harris, another pupil of Mr. Rooker, was ordained at 
Lyme in 1775, and continued minister of the Independent con- 
gregation there till 1801, when he relinquished his office in 
consequence of his embracing Unitarianism ; he removed to II- 
minster, and died there in 1808. 

Mr. Evans resigned his office as pastor of the congregation 
in consequence of ill health, went to Carmarthen, where he 
preached a short time, and afterwards settled at Evesham. 

Mr. Williams studied for the ministry at Carmarthen; he 
had been settled at Ilminster only one year when he was taken 
off by consumption, at the age of twenty- two. 

Mr. BOWEN removed to Walsall, where he is still living. 



CREWKERNE 



" Crokehorn is seete under the rootes of an hille. Ther I saw 
nothing very notable. Yet ther ys a praty crosse environid with smaul 
pillers, and a praty toune house yn the market place." — ^Leland. 

" A very ancient town, known in the Saxon times by the name of 
Cjiucejine, which is compounded of the words Cpuce a cross, and 
Gajine a cottage, or place of retirement. There is no doubt that this 
name was applied to it in the early ages of Christianity, when churches 
were rare, and hermitages or cells were the usual places of religious 
associations." 

*' It is situated in a rich and fertile vale, well wooded and watered, 
and surrounded with cultivated eminences, which command extensive 
and very beautiful prospects." — Collins on. 

Population in 1811,-3021 ; in 1821,-3434; in 1831,-3789. 



m -eniTiii t CREWKEKNE. 

In the year 1662^ the incumbent at Crewkerne 
was Mr. Tomkins. He was, at first, among the^ 
sufferers for conscience sake, but was afterwards 
tempted to conform.* Some of his hearers, how- 
ever, were less flexible; and, having adopted the 
principles of Nonconformity, steadily adhered to 
them. For two years, from 1665 to 1667, they 
had the ministerial services of Mr. James Steven- 
son, who had been ejected from the living of Mar-j 
tock by the Act of Uniformity, and at length driven 
from the parish entirely by the Oxford Act.-]* He 
then removed to Crewkerne, and preached in his 

* Noncon, Mem., Vol. ii. p. 389. 

f The circumstances in which this act was passed increase om- detesta- 
tion of the spirit which prompted it. So completely had bigotry and spi- 
ritual pride hardened the hearts of the Government, that they disregarded 
alike the warnings of God and the miseries of man. At the very moment 
they were passing this tyrannical statute, the plague was devastating 
the metropolis, and the ejected ministers (whom it was their object to 
punish) were almost the only persons who had sufficient courage and be- 
nevolence to visit the abodes of pestilence and comfort its unhappy victims. 
When the new ministers of the city churches fled and left their flocks in 
the utmost extremity, these noble-minded men entered the forsaken pulpits, 
went from house to house on their errands of mercy, and by their public 
and private exertions, under the blessing of God, the face of death wore a 
less ghastly smile. And how were they rewarded ? By the thanks of the 
House of Commons ? By the spontaneous and loudly expressed gratitude 
of the king and people ? — No ; but by being hunted from place to place as 
beings unworthy the blessings of freedom or even the common courtesies 
of life ! An oath, a wicked, enslaving oath, was tendered them, and if 



CREWKERNE. 



241 



own hired house. Here, however, he was not more 
safe, for he met with many enemies, some of whom 
threatened to burn down his house. At the end of 
the two years he returned to Martock, and partly 
supported himself by practising as a physician, for 
which he had prepared himself while living in 
Holland many years previously. When the indul- 
gence was published, he again preached at Martock 
in a licensed house, and continued his benevolent 
attempts to do good to the souls and bodies of men 
till his death in 1685. His talents and character 
rendered him highly respected by many of the 
neighbouring gentlemen ; but the trials and losses^ 
he experienced were very great, and would have 
subdued his spirit if he had not firmly trusted in 
God, and steadfastly determined that ^'his heart 
should not reproach him as long as he lived."* 

Mr. Stevenson's labours at Crewkerne were of 
short duration, but the influence of his instructions 
and example were felt long after he left. The next 
minister of whom any traces remain, is Mr. Robert 
Knight, who probably settled with the congregation 
before the commencement of the last century. -j* In 
1715 he had two hundred and fifty hearers ; he 
was living in 1739, but we may infer that he was 
then old and disabled, from the circumstance that 

a kind Providence had not sustained in the most extraordinary manner 
those who refused it, hundreds of learned and excellent men would have 
perished for want or been reduced to beggary ! 

* These were his own words. See an interesting memoir of his life, 
Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 367. 
t Mr. Wilson's MSS. 

R 



242 



CREWKERNE. 



Mr. John Collier was the pastor of the congregation 
in the preceding year. The exact dates of Mr. 
Collier's settlement and removal are unknown ; nor 
have we any other certain information till we come 
to the settlement of the first Mr. Blake. Several 
persons now living remember to have heard that a 
Mr. Hallett was his immediate predecessor. Mr. 
Blake began his ministry at Crewkerne in the year 
1754; he was succeeded by his son at the end of 
nearly forty-five years. The subsequent ministers 
have been Mr. Wilson, from the York College, and 
now at Newbury, and Mr. Walker. The congre- 
gation has never been very large ; and within the 
last few years removals and deaths have diminished 
its numbers ; but it is still respectable for its size, 
the intelligence of its members, and the useful in- 
stitutions it supports, consisting of a good Sunday- 
school formed in 1796, and a chapel library of six 
hundred books and pamphlets, commenced in 1825. 
Unitarian opinions have been cherished here for 
many years. There is no evidence that any of the 
ministers have been Trinitarians since the erection 
of the chapel, the date of which is 1733. 

Accounts of any previous place of worship except 
Mr. Stevenson's *^'own hired house," have been 
sought in vain. The present building is of the 
plainest kind, but is substantially and comfortably 
fitted up. Its dimensions are 42 feet by 24; there 
are two galleries ; and adjoining the chapel is a 
small burial-ground. In the year 1811, considerable 
repairs were effected, including a new roof and new 



CREWKERNE. 



243 



pews, at an expense of upwards of ^400. Within 
the building are four monuments; the first is in 
memory of Mr. Blake, Sen., Mrs. Blake, his wife, 
and Hannah, their daughter; the second in memory 
of Hannah, first wife of Mr. Blake, Jun., and 
Hannah, his only daughter by that lady ; the third 
in memory of Mrs. Stuckey, of Langport, who 
died in 1750, aged 54 years, and Mr. and Mrs. 
Jolliffe, erected by Samuel Sparks, Esq. ; the fourth 
in memory of Mr. Blake, Jun. It is the intention 
of Dr. Blake, of Taunton, one of the surviving 
brothers of Mr. Blake, Jun., to add an inscription 
recording the death of the second wife of that gen- 
tleman. The inscriptions on the monuments of the 
two ministers are as follow : 

As A TRIBUTE OF FILIAL DUTY AND AFFECTION, THIS MONUMENT, 
ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF THE ReV. WiLLIAM BlAKE, MIN- 
ISTER OF THIS CONGREGATION DURING THE LONG PERIOD OF 
FORTY-FIVE YEARS. He DIED MaRCH 29, 1799, AGED 69- 

A FAITHFUL SHEPHERD o'eR THE LITTLE FLOCK 

Committed to his charge ; his Master's will 
With zeal he did enforce, and lived his law, 

M. S. 

OF 

Rev. William Blake, son of Rev. William and Hannah Blake, 
who, having zealously and faithfully discharged the 
duties of a minister of this congregation for twenty-five 
years, and having lived respected and beloved, died sin- 
cerely LAMENTED BY HIS FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND RELATIONS, 

18tli February, 1821, aged 47. 

What though the grave closes over the righteous 

MAN; still his EXAMPLE LIVES. 

r 2 



244 



CREWKERNE. 



TOMKINS 1662—1665. 

James Stevenson 1665 — 1667. 

Robert Knight 1690 — 1738. 

John Collier 1738 — 

Hallett — 1754. 

William Blake, Sen 1754 — 1798. 

William Blake, Jun 1798—1821. 

William Wilson 1821—1823. 

Samuel Walker 1823. 



Mr. Blake, Sen., was descended from pious and worthy ances- 
tors, a collateral branch of the familj of that true patriot. Admi- 
ral Blake. His grandfather, the Rev. Malachi Blake, a Noncon- 
formist minister, resided at Blagdon, four miles from Taunton- 
This gentleman laid the foundation of the Dissenting congrega- 
tion at Wellington, in Somersetshire. After the defeat of the 
Duke of Monmouth, to whose cause he had been friendly, he 
was obliged to flee from home ; he went to London, disguised 
in a lay dress with a tye-wig and a sword. He had three sons, 
John, Malachi, and William. The latter, a woolstapler, in 
Taunton, died at a good old age, highly respected, and left three 
sons and five daughters. The subject of this memoir was the 
yoimgest of these children ; he was born July 7, 1730, received 
his classical learning under the Rev. Mr. Hurly, a clergyman 
of the Established Church in Taimton; and, in 1749, commenced 
his academical studies at Northampton, under Dr. Doddridge. 
On leaving the Academy, he settled with the congregation at 
Crewkerne, and was ordained there May 11, 1757. Here, 
though he received several earnest invitations from other places,- 



CREWKERNE. 



245 



he spent the whole of his future life, zealously discharging the 
duties of his office. Feeling the infirmities of age, he resigned 
his connexion as pastor, July 29, ] 798 ; but he did not wholly 
withdraw from public services till a few months afterwards. 

Mr. Blake was one of those who, in teaching others, plainly 
evinced his own belief of the truths he tried to impress upon 
their minds. His occasionally authoritative manner, tempered 
with mildness and benevolence, gave the air of paternal admo- 
nition to his public discourses. In social life he was a kind and 
tender husband ; an affectionate, indulgent parent ; a sincere and 
warm friend ; candid, generous, and humane to all. Though 
grave and sedate, he ever discovered an habitual cheerfulness, 
and such equanimity, that few, if any, ever saw his temper 
ruffled, or his mind discomposed. No one lived more under 
the constant influence of the all-sustaining principles of a super- 
intending providence and a future state of immortality. Hence 
he derived support and comfort under all the afflictions of life ; 
and well-grounded, unshaken hope at the hour of death. 

Mr. Blake was twice married, and had five children, four of 
whom survived both their parents ; the eldest was Dr. Malachi 
Blake, of Taunton ; and the second, the Rev. William Blake^ 
who succeeded to his father's ministerial charge. His funeral 
sermon was preached and given to the public through the press 
by the Rev. T. Thomas.* 



Mr. Blake, Jun., was born at Crewkerne, March 29, 1773. 
He received the early part of his classical education at Litton, 
in Dorsetshire, under the Rev. James Kircup, and afterwards at 
the Free School in Crewkerne. From a child he was remark- 
able for piety, diligent and regular attention, a steady and solid 
progress in learning, and a considerable talent for calculations. 

* An Appendix contains the Address and Prayer delivered at the inter- 
ment, and a memoir of the deceased, by Dr. Toulmin ; also a sketch of 
Mr. Blake's character, and an elegiac poem, by the Rev. F. Webb. 



246 



CREWKERNE. 



Having manifested a fixed desire to devote himself to the 
ministry, he went, in 1790, to the Academy at Northampton, 
then under the care of the Rev. Mr. Horsey. Here he pursued 
his studies with diligence, and by his regular habits, intelligence, 
and fidelity, he secured the confidence of his tutors, and the re- 
spect and affection of his fellow-students. 

On his father's resignation, Mr. Blake was unanimously 
chosen pastor of the congregation at Crewkerne, where he re- 
mained till his death, Feb. J 8, 1821, having spent twenty-four 
years in uninterrupted harmony with his flock. The disease 
which removed him in the prime of life attacked insidiously; 
many days it proceeded in its work of destruction before it ex- 
cited his own apprehension, or the serious fears of his family. 
It was with a bitterness of anguish which, but for the solaces of 
religion, would have been truly terrible, this awful truth was 
perceived by his near relatives ; and the news of his death 
spread the deepest sorrow through the town and neighbourhood. 
His remains were followed to the tomb by a long train of 
mourners, who wept for him as for a friend and brother. The 
solemn service was performed by the Rev. T. Thomas, of Ware- 
ham, who also officiated at the grave of Mr. Blake, Sen., and 
the funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. S. Fawcett, of 
Yeovil. 

Mr. Blake's family history resembles that of his father ; he 
was twice married, and left one son and three daughters. 
The distinguishing character of his mind was clearness, of his 
heart benevolence, of his manners simplicity. He was so re- 
markable for discretion, that his friends often resorted to him 
for counsel ; his probity and moderation were so well known, 
and his talent for business so universally acknowledged, that his 
advice was extensively sought, and generally gave satisfaction. 
He was capable of much tenderness, and even ardour, notwith- 
standiug the extreme calmness of his manners. Those to whom 
he sustained the relations of husband, father, brother, and friend, 
well know with what strength of aifection his heart could glow. 
To few men has a more equal and happy lot been granted. In 



CREWKERNE. 



247 



the possession of competence, occupied in the duties of a pro- 
fession which was his early choice, and which exactly accorded 
with his disposition, surrounded by friends who esteemed and 
loved him, and peculiarly happy in his domestic connexions, he 
might seem, indeed, to have been exempted from that portion 
of suffering which the moral Governor of the world sees fit to 
dispense to every human being. Yet suffering, sufficiently 
severe, sprung out of the very sources of his felicity. No 
sooner had one who contributed to his happiness, taught him 
the uncommon worth of her character and the great value 
of her society, than she was taken from him. And subsequent- 
ly, though brighter days were in reserve for him, there were 
sources of anxiety and distress connected with his infant family, 
which brought him acquainted even with the bitterness of sor- 
row, and put to a severe test his trust in the wisdom and good- 
ness of God. There was one most engaging child to whom, by 
peculiar circumstances, his parents were more than commonly 
endeared. After a brief warning he w'as taken from them ; the 
stroke was severe, and severely it was felt ; but now, as at 
former times, the mourners remembered that He who gave in 
mercy, in mercy took away, and the feelings of humanity were 
moderated and sustained by the principles of the Gospel. 

The character of Mr. Blake as a minister was no less exem- 
plary. He was faithful in declaring what he conceived to be 
the whole counsel of God. His own mind was strongly im- 
pressed with a sense of the great truths of the gospel. When 
he left the Academy, his theological opinions were Arian, a 
least respecting the pre-existence of Christ. A closer examina- 
tion of Scripture led him to adopt what is called modern Uni- 
tarianism. This is evident from the Liturgy which he compiled 
for the use of his congregation, and a sermon preached by him 
before the Southern Unitarian Society. Deeming his opinions 
of unspeakable importance, maintaining that they best deserved 
the name of practical, he earnestly defended them. Yet his 
general style of preaching was plain, serious, and scriptural. 
Glowing with love and gratitude to God and benevolence to 



248 



CBEWKERNE. 



man, he spoke from the heart to the heart. He had a deep 
conviction that piety is not a rapturous feeling, but a fixed and 
steady principle arising from just views of the perfections and 
providence of God, affecting the heart at all times, and regulat- 
ing the conduct under all circumstances. He believed that a 
preparation for heaven must be obtained, not by trusting in the 
merits and sufferings of Jesus Christ, but by obeying his pre- 
cepts, by imitating his example, by controlling the selfish and 
cherishing the generous affections, and by seeking personal hap- 
piness in the promotion of the happiness of others. iVnd he 
lived the precepts which he taught. Out of the pulpit he was 
quite as much the pastor of his flock as in it. Whenever any 
of his people were in sickness or affliction, his attention to them 
was most kind and soothing. Over the poor he took a special 
charge ; and in all seasons of peculiar severity and distress the 
services he rendered were pre-eminently judicious and effectual. 

The original memoir from which this account is taken con- 
tains many more interesting remarks. The author of that me- 
moir, whose initials are those of Dr. Southwood Smith, thus 
concludes : " He has finished his work ; he has terminated his 
earthly course ; — his life was honourable ; his death was peace- 
ful ! There is no sense of the word in which he was not a 
faithful Christian, and the reward of Christian fidelity was his.*" 



* Monthly Repos., Vol. xvi. p. 268. 



BRTDPORT. 

DORCHESTER. 

WAREHAM. 



POOLE 



BRIDPORT. 



Bridport is situated in a vale surrounded by hills, a mile north 
from the sea. Its haven is situated at the mouth of the river Brit, but 
it has never been of any note in maritime affairs. The town has a re- 
spectable appearance, the principal streets being broad and spacious, 
and many of the houses very well built. 

For a great number of years the inhabitants were chiefly supported 
by the manufacture of twines, lines, small cordage, nets and sail- 
cloth ; and a considerable trade is still carried on in these articles. 
Population in 1811,-3567 ; in 1821,-3742 ; in 1831,-4242. 



UNITARIAN CHAPEL, 

'^HE Dissenting cause at Bridport appears to 
have originated with Mr. Eaton^ who was ejected 
from the living in 1662.* All the information 
concerning him is^ that he was an ingenious and 
delicate preacher/' and published two sermons 
vindicating the ministers of Christ from the charge 
of being House-creeper s.^'-^ Mr. Joseph Hallet, who 
was ejected from Chesleborough^ in Somersetshire^ 
retired to this town and lived here, probably, in the 
private discharge of ministerial duties, till he was 
invited to Exeter. J In the neighbourhood of Brid- 
port, there were many Nonconformists ; ministers 
lost their livings by the Bartholomew Act, at 
Allington, Beaminster, Charmouth, Chardstock, 
Hawkchurch, Lyme, Monkton, Whitchurch, and 
other places ; most of them preached occasionally, 
and some raised large conregations. 

Mr. Hallet removed to Exeter about the year 
1672. In that year, Mr. Downe took steps for 
placing the cause on a permanent basis at Bridport. 
This appears from a licence of a private house, in 

* N. M. Vol. i. p. 444. t In allusion to the passage 2 Timothy iii. 6. 
X N. M. Vol. i. p. 35,5. 



BRIDPORT. 



253 



which he was to officiate, belonging to a Mr. Gold- 
ing. This document is dated May 1, 1672; it 
describes Mr. Downe as an Independent preacher^ 
though in the time of Cromwell^ he was ordained 
by a Presbytery. A list of the members of the 
Bridport congregation, at this period, is still pre- 
served ; the number was about a hundred. A few 
years afterwards, the government became more jea- 
lous than ever, of all who were opposed, in the 
slightest degree, to the Church of England. The 
Nonconformists at Bridport shared in the persecu- 
tions of the time ; and in 1680, the pastor and some 
of his people were imprisoned. Whether they were 
immediately concerned in the horrible catastrophe 
which followed, does not appear ; but the failure of 
Monmouth's rebellion and the inhuman ferocity of 
Jefferies, inflicted great injury on their cause. 
The inhabitants had to endure the dreadful specta?^ 
cle of the execution of twelve persons by the order 
of this unjust judge." 

The next minister of whom there is any account 
is Mr. Baker. He published several works and 
had the reputation of being " an excellent evangeli-i 
cal preacher."* Two years after his decease came. 
Mr. DrcAvitt, who remained at Bridport till 1737i i 
when he accepted an invitation to Taunton. His 
services at the latter place were of short duration ; 
at the end of one year, symptoms of consumption 
obliged him to remove to Beaminster for changer 
of air, which proved ineffectual, and there he 

* Mr. Wilson's MSS. 



254 



BRIDPORT. 



died.* Mr. Drewitt's successor was Mr. Collins, 
during whose ministry the society divided, and the 
seceders commenced the present large and respecta- 
ble Independent congregation. Mr. Collins was 
happy in his connexion (says a writer in the Pro- 
testant Dissenters' Magazine, f) till the year 1742, 
when the harmony of it was broken by suspicions, 
which some then began to entertain of his orthodoxy 
in the doctrine of the Trinity." The Bridport Dis- 
senters were, at this time, numerous ; — more than 
two hundred separated from Mr. Collins, and the 
heterodox section was still larger ; the majority ad- 
hered to their pastor and continued to enjoy his 
services, till he was disabled by disease. 

In the year 1764^ Mr. Sutton was chosen. At 
the end of five years, he removed to London and 
was succeeded by Mr. Waters. The latter minister 
was ordained in 1769 ; by him the register of bap- 
tisms was commenced. He was followed by Mr. 
Howe, of whose services there is yet a grateful re- 
collection. In 1791, four years after the settlement 
of Mr. Howe, the congregation resolved to erect a 
new chapel. The place in which they previously 
assembled was held upon a lease under the corpo- 
ration. The following resolution was passed at this 
period; ""That the present meeting-house is ex- 
tremely mean in its appearance, unbecoming the 
respectability and opulence of the society, incom- 
modious both to the speakers and hearers, insuf- 

* Toulmin's History of Taunton, Savage's Edition, p. 176. 
t Vol. V. p. 246. 



BRIDPORT. 



255 



ficient for the accommodation of all those who wor- 
ship there, and, moreover, in a very decayed and 
ruinous condition." Before the meeting separated, 
the sum of £667. was subscribed towards the erec- 
tion of a new building ; and this sum was soon 
increased by the congregation and their immediate 
connexions to J1443. The total expense of pur- 
chasing the land and building the chapel amounted 
to about £600. more, which remained some years 
as a debt, but was eventually raised and paid by 
the society. 

The new place of worship was opened on Sunday, 
March 9th, 1794, The season being inconvenient 
for the usual meeting of distant friends, Mr. Howe 
preached on one part of the sabbath and Mr. Faw- 
cett on the other. To the exertions of the latter 
minister, who resided near Bridport some years 
without a pastoral charge, this society were largely 
indebted. The opening of the new chapel was cele- 
brated on Wednesday, April 30th, 1794; sermons 
being preached by Mr. Manning, of Exeter, and 
Dr. Toulmin, of Taunton, and devotional services 
conducted by Mr. Gummer, of Ilminster, and Mr. 
Kell, of Wareham. 

This place of worship is one of those which 
can scarcely fail to attract the eye of the traveller. 
It stands on a gentle ascent, in a conspicuous and 
eligible situation, within sight, yet partly removed 
from the noise, of the principal street. The words 
Unitarian Chapel are inscribed on the front. Its 
height and general appearance, now, leave a less 



256 



BHrDPORT. 



favourable impression on the traveller than they 
did at first in consequence of the erection, immedi- 
ately adjoining, of the Literary Institution, a hand- 
some and commodious edifice, for which the inhabi- 
tants are indebted to the generosity of Henry 
Warburton, Esq., one of the members for the 
Borough. The piece of ground between the chapel 
and the street, being small, is not a general ceme- 
tery, but has a few vaults belonging to members of 
the congregation. The interior of the building is 
particularly neat ; if any thing appears unnecessary 
to a stranger, it is the curtains which conceal some 
of the pews. In addition to galleries on three sides, 
there is a small one raised above that at the end 
for the use of the choir. Over the pulpit is a tablet 
with the following inscription : 

To THE MEMORY OF rj 

THE Rev. Thomas Howe, 

THE FAITHFUL AND BELOVED PASTOR 

OF THIS Christian society 
FOR 32 years, 
WHO DIED 15th November, 1820, 
AGED 61. 

"Be not slothful, but followers of them who through 

FAITH AND PATIENCE INHERIT THE PROMISES." Hcb vi. 12. 

Before the chapel was opened the congregation 
met to consider the propriety of adopting a liturgy. 
After some discussion they decided in favour of 
doing so for a given period, at the end of which, 
they again met and resolved to continue the plan. 



BRIDPORT. 



257 



The following copy of tlie original resolutions may 
be useful as a record of the opinions at the time in 
question, not only of the Bridport congregation but 
of several others. 

Resolved, 1st. — That it is the opinion of this meeting, that the 
present mode of conducting public worship is objectionable. 
Because the minister alone being the speaker, the people are 
apt to consider themselves as merely passive, and to think that 
the minister is rather praying for than with them. Because the ^ 
people, not knowing beforehand what language the minister ^ 
will use, must wait until he has uttered the sentence, before 
they can know whether they can adopt it as their own. And 
especially — Because the devotion of a whole congregation is 
hereby made to depend too much on the frame of mind of the 
minister, which, like those of others, must be very different at i 
different times. — .;| 

On the other hand. 

Resolved, 2nd. — That by the use of printed forms, the people 
have an opportunity of perusing them in private, and by this 
means of being better prepared for using them in public. The 
attention of the worshipers is more easily kept iip, when they 
themselves take an active part in the service. Proper devo- 
tional affections are more likely to be excited by a whole con- 
gregation uniting their voices in the various solemn addresses 
to the Divine Being. And, where such a provision is made, 
public worship may with more ease and propriety be carried on 
by a congregation, in case of a minister's absence. 

Resolved, 3rd — That it has been objected to the use of printed 
forms, that free prayer is one of the principal distinctions be- 
tween Dissenters and members of the Established Church ; but 
the persons who urge this objection should consider that this 
alone would by no means justify a separation from the esta- 
blishment ; and that the principles of Dissent are the unalienable A 
rights of private judgment in matters of religion, and the ac- 
knowledgment of Jesus Christ as the sole head of the church. 

S 



258 



BRIDPORT. 



Besides, is there not a very material difference between being 
compelled to join in a Liturgy, tbe sentiments of wMch may 
oppose our own comdctions, and voluntarily joining in the use 
of forms which we thoroughly approve ? 

It has also been objected to precomposed forms, that when 
custom has rendered them familiar, however excellent in them- 
selves, they cease to produce the desired effect. But, besides 
that this objection lies equally against many of those which are 
called Extempore prayers, it is in a great measure ob^-iated by 
introducing a variety of services, to be used in succession, so 
that the same shall not return in less than three or four Sab- 
baths. 

Another objection to the use of forms has been, that it is 
limiting the operations of the Holy Spirit, and that, therefore, 
there is no reason to expect the Divine blessing upon it. But 
this does not appear to be supported by reason, since God is a 
God of order and not of confasion ; and had this mode been 
displeasing to him, it would never ha%^e been adopted in the 
Jewish church, in the services of which our Saviour himseK 
joined. Moreover, it has been urged that the best forms of 
prayer cannot be supposed to include all the variety of cases 
which it may be proper to introduce. This reason is also done 
away, if the minister be permitted to use a prayer of his own as 
a part of the service. 

In accordance with these resolutions, the congi'e- 
gregation introduced four forms of prayer which 
they have since continued to use. They still main- 
tain their position as one of the largest Unitarian 
societies in the West of England.* Bridport is one 
of the few towns which retain corporations consisting 

* Among the members are descendants of several ministers in the town 
and neighbourhood ; — the names of Downe and Gundry appear in the list 
of the two thousand, and the families of Colfox and Homisell are directly 
descended from Mr. Collins. 



BRIDPORT. 259 

chiefly of Dissenters ; and here many members of 
that body belong to this congregation. In addition 
to some of the oldest families and most influential 
inhabitants of the town, there is, in this society, a 
a large proportion of that class to whom the gospel 
was first preached and who heard it gladly. The 
venerable biographer of Mr. Howe, writing in 
1820, says " His capacious chapel was well filled 
by a serious and attentive audience, a considerable 
part of which was formed of labouring mechanics 
and the industrious poor." And what can be a 
better proof that the true spirit of Christianity 
pervades a house of prayer, than the circumstance 
that the high and the low are to be found there de- 
riving equal advantages from its services ? This 
congregation has occasionally distinguished itself 
by generous contributions, particularly towards de- 
fraying the expenses of throwing out Lord Sid- 
mouth's Bill, the fund for the persecuted Protest- 
ants in the south of France, and the support of the 
British and Foreign Schools. The principal insti- 
tutions connected with their own chapel are a 
Sunday-school, conducted by the younger members 
of the society, and consisting of a hundred and 
twenty children; a fellowship fund, from which 
liberal grants have frequently been made to Uni- 
tarian churches in want of assistance ; and a chapel 
library, containing about one thousand volumes, 
the circulation of which is unusually great. There 
is much reason to believe that this society will con- 
tinue to flourish — to find in their powerful principles 

s 2 



260 



BRIDPORT. 



encouragement to persevere in useful undertakings, 
and afford to those neighbouring communities with 
which it associates so cordially, at once an example 
of congregational stability and all necessary help in 
acquiring it.* 



i^mfsters. 



William Eaton 1662 — 

Joseph Hallet 1662 — 1672- 

Richard Downe 1672 — 1687. 

Samuel Baker 1687 — 1727. 

Robert Drewitt 1729 — 1737. 

Thomas Collins 1735 — 1764. 

; William Sutton 1 764 — 1 769. 

George Waters 1769—1787. 

Thomas Howe 1787—1820. 

George Barker Wawne 1821 — 1827. 

Robert Cree 1827—1834. 

Philip Harwood 1835. 



* The present minister, Mr. Philip Harwood, was invited to settle here 
on leaving the University of Edinburgh. This gentleman commenced his 
studies for the ministry with the intention of devoting himself to the 
ser\dce of some " orthodox" congregation. Possessing, however, an earn- 
est desire to arrive at truth, he exercised his own judgment to an unusual 
extent, pai'ticidarly during the delivery of a course of academical lectures 
by Dr. Chalmers, of whose class he was a member. His prepossessions in 
favour of orthodoxy, having been previously weakened by a private and 
impartial study of the sacred records, received a still greater shock by 
what appeared to him the incongruous assertions and feeble reasonings of 
the celebrated lecturer, on the subject of the atonement. Mr. Harv^ood 
soon afterwards became a decided Unitarian. 



7 



BRIDPbRt. 



261 



Mr. Howe was born at Uffculme, in Devonshire, about the 
year 1 759. His excellent parents first placed him. under the 
instruction of Mr. Lamport, at that time the minister of Uffculme, 
and afterwards of Honiton. At the age of fifteen, he was sent 
to Hoxton, where his amiable manners and his exemplary de- 
portment secured for him the affection both of his tutors and 
fellow-students. On leaving Hoxton, he was, for a short time, 
domestic chaplain and assistant to the Rev. Sir Harry Trelawny, 
who ever retained for him the highest esteem. On Sir Harry's 
conforming to the Established Church, Mr. Howe removed to 
Ringwood, where he resided a few years, the minister of a small 
Presbyterian society. On the death of Mr. Waters, in 1787, he 
received an unanimous invitation to Bridport. In the following 
year he was ordained, the society being favoured with the 
assistance of the Rev. J. Manning, and the Rev. Doctors Kippis 
and Rees. With this affectionate people he spent the remain- 
ing thirty-tlu-ee years of his life, discharging his pastoral duties, 
and promoting the cause of truth and righteousness. His con- 
gregation vied with each other in rendering his situation happy ; 
and that he had a just claim to such regard, no one who knew 
him could deny. His talents, in themselves good, were diligent- 
ly cultivated and usefully applied. His memory was retentive 
and his judgment sound : his temper naturally sweet and his 
feelings lively. In the friendly circle he was uniformly cheerful 
and instructive ; and in the world, he was the warm but tempe- 
rate advocate of peace, truth, and liberty. His theological senti- 
timents were the result of close and impartial investigation. 
For several years after he left Hoxton, he believed in the pre- 
existence of Christ, but on further inquiry, he became what is 
commonly termed a decided Unitarian, Mr. Howe was dis- 
tinguished by the manner in which he discharged the duties of 
his office. His mornings were diligently employed in reading 
and composition, his evenings in friendly and pastoral visits. 
The Monday in each week he particularly devoted to those who 
by sickness had been detained from public worship. His dis- 



262 



BRIDPORT. 



courses were plain, serious, and scriptural ; impressively deli- 
vered, and admirably adapted to the capacities and circumstances 
of his hearers ; he might, in the best sense of the word, be called 
a time server. He studiously availed himself of every oppor- 
tunity of improving passing events for the benefit of his hearers. 
To the younger part of his flock he paid particular attention, 
not merely by occasional addresses, but also by regular and 
stated catechetical lectures. The poor, the sick, a,nd the aged, 
largely experienced his kindness. Generosity, and that of the 
noblest kind, founded on Christian benevolence and supported by 
well-regulated economy, formed a prominent featiure in his 
character. 

Mr. Howe died November 15th, 1820. He had for several 
months been afflicted with shortness of breath and occasional 
spasms. Though fully apprized of the alarming nature of his 
disease, he preserved his wonted serenity, and was not prevented 
from preaching more than one sabbath. On the day of his 
death, he dined and spent the afternoon with a friend, who at- 
tended him home and left him as well as usual, only a little 
fatigued with the walk. After entering his house, he had not 
sat many minutes, before the servant perceived his hands fall, 
and his head droop, and thought he was asleep ; but on nearer in- 
spection found that he was dead. Thus suddenly did an All- wise 
Providence remove from the world, one of the best of men. 

It was natural to expect that his death would be deeply re- 
gretted. The inhabitants manifested their sorrow by unani- 
mously agreeing to postpone, till after his interment, a general 
illumination, which was to have taken place several days earlier. 
The congregation took upon themselves the management of 
the funeral, and liis remains were followed to the grave by an 
immense concourse of people. Six Dissenting ministers of dif- 
ferent denominations supported the pall, thus shewing their re- 
spect for one whose charity embraced the sincere and upright of 
every denomination. Mr. Manning, of Exeter, conducted the 
funeral service, and on the succeeding sabbath, a suitable dis- 
course was delivered to a large audience, by Dr. Southwood 



BRIDPORT, 263 

Smith, who, at the unanimous request of the congregation, gave 
it to the public* 



Mr. Wawne was a native of Hull. His mother dying when 
he was joung, he was brought up under the care of her relatives. 
The religious sentiments which he first imbibed were " ortho- 
dox," but after careful examination, at an early period of life, 
he embraced Unitarianism. In consequence of a long cherished 
desire to devote himself to the ministry, he became a student at 
York, in the year 1816. Having completed the usual course 
with distinguished credit, he was chosen to succeed Mr. Howe, 
at Bridport. Mr. Wawne possessed unusual qualifications for 
his task, and gave himself to it with an ardour and singleness of 
purpose seldom surpassed. The vigour and comprehensiveness 
of his mind, his habitual fervour of devotional feeling, and his 
benevolent anxiety for the immortal welfare of his flock, render- 
ed his pulpit services peculiarly efficacious. He deemed it one 
of his greatest duties and most pleasing employments to instruct 
and improve the young. And he felt it to be a blessing that, in 
this part of his task, he received the assistance of several worthy 
and estimable friends. To the interests of the other members 
of his flock he was equally attentive. Regulating his conduct 
by the precepts of the apostle, he rebuked not an elder, but en- 
treated him as a father, and the younger men as brethren, the 
elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters. In private, 
his attention to their interests was equally unremitting. The 
poor he relieved, the sick he visited and consoled, the djdng 
he prepared for death. Nor, while he thus proved himself a 
faithful shepherd, was he indifl"ereut to the welfare of other 
religious societies, or uninterested in the promulgation of their 
doctrines. Whilst health permitted, he laboured to diffuse the 
knowledge of Christian truth, and to fix in the minds of others, 
the principles by which his own was influenced. When dis- 



* M. R. Vol. xvi. p. 53. 



264 



BRIDPORT. 



abled by sickness, he continued to regard those principles as 
supremely important and to derive from them constant support. 
Conversing a few days before his death with the friend who was 
constantly at his side during his illness, on the words of the 
Psalmist : — "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken 
and contrite heart God will not despise," he observed, " Is it 
not strange that so many persons can be found in this enlight- 
ened age, who implicitly believe in the popular doctrine of the 
atonement ? At this time, when I am turning my thoughts in 
every direction, I do assure you that the truth of the Unitarian 
doctrine seems to shine out more and more clearly." 

A decline of health was apparent soon after he settled at Brid- 

^port. His illness was lingering, and assumed towards its close 
the usual symptoms of consumption. Indications of a consti- 
tutional tendency to this fatal disease were not wanting ; and 
the duties of the ministry, performed with a trembling solicitude, 

^and connected in his case with much mental excitement, called 
into action its latent principles. In the Autumn of 1825, he 
resigned his situation as pastor of the society, but, at their re- 
quest, continued among them with the assistance of the friend 

just mentioned, the Rev. J. G. Teggin. The hopes of his peo- 
ple were not realized ; increasing debility made him daily more 
unable to encounter exertion, and gradually withdrew him 
from his labours. He died April 18th, 1827.* 

* Monthly Repos. N.S. Vol. i. p. 447. See also a faithful tribute to the 
memory of Mr. Wawne in the sermon on his death, by the Rev. E. Whit- 
field. 



DORCHESTER. 

ill 8.)if>,. 



"Dorchester is delightfully situated on an ascent above the river 
Frome, which bounds it on the north side, at the distance of about six 
miles from the British Channel ; and on the south-west it opens on 
pleasant downs intermixed with corn fields. The view is every where 
uncommonly pleasant; and the numerous flocks of sheep which whiten 
the plains, the river with its winding course, and the gently rising hills 
in the distance, altogether give it an enchanting effect. The town 
forms an irregular square, though, in former thnes, as appears from 
observation, it most probably made a complete one. It consists prin- 
cipally of three spacious streets, which join each other about the 
middle; these, with the subordinate ones, are well paved, and in 
general adorned with handsome buildings of brick and stone. Those 
of most eminence are, the three churches of St. Peter's, Trinity, and 
All Saints ; the Town Hall, the County Hall, and the New Gaol."— 
Britton and Brayley. 

Population in 1811,-2546; in 1821,-2743; in 1831,-3033. 



OLD DISSENTING MEETING-HOUSE, 

PEASE LAXE. 



In 1662^ two ministers were ejected from Dor- 
chester,, and one from Fordington, — populous 
parish adjoining. The former were Mr. Benn, of 
Allhallows, and Mr. Hammond, of Trinity and St. 
Peter's; the latter was Mr. Churchill. Mr. Ham- 
mond afterwards became the minister of a large 
Dissenting congregation at Taunton, in conjunction 
with Mr. Newton, and remained there till the cruel- 
ties which followed Monmouth's rebellion drove him 
to London. Mr. Benn continued among his own 
adherents, and preached to them as he had oppor- 
tunity, till his death, which occurred in 1680. He 
was then succeeded by his neighboui' and fellow-suf- 
ferer Mr. Churchill, who had previously assisted 
him in the ministry. * 

These excellent men appear not only to have 
organized a church of Nonconformists, but to have 
placed it, by the Divine assistance, on a permanent 
basis. It grew, like many others, amidst the storms 
of persecution; Mr. Benn was often brought into 
trouble, and sometimes imprisoned for preaching to 
his flock; and pastors and people were subject to a 



* Xoncon. Mem., Vol. i, p. 150. 



DORCHESTER. 



267 



long series of trials. Five years after this good 
man's deaths the infamous Jelferies visited the town, 
and if there were any among the Dissenters who 
could be deterred by "^"the fear of man" from main- 
taining their principles, such persons must have 
trembled at the atrocities committed by his order. 
It was here he ordered the court to be hung with 
scarlet on the morning of the trial, — a horrid omen 
of the sanguinary proceedings which ensued, — ^the 
execution of so many victims for their alleged share 
in an insurrection which no enlightened friend to 
liberty can safely reprobate.* 

* On this painful subject my limits will not allow me to dilate : but 
neither can I be altogether silent. That the earliest members of the 
churches whose history I am relating were deeply concerned in the rebel- 
lion of the Duke of Monmouth, there can, I think, be no doubt. Notices 
will be found in various parts of this work, and particularly in the account 
of the congregation at Taunton, which shew that this class largely contri- 
buted to the attempt, and bitterly suffered from the defeat. And I confess 
I cannot conceive how their conduct can be harshly censured by those 
who call themselves their descendants, and who are acquainted both with 
the principles on which the insurrectionists refused to conform to the 
Church of England, and with the series of irritating circumstances which 
they had hitherto patiently endured. We may grant that the motives of 
Monmouth were not so high as they ought to have been, — we may admit 
that his title was questionable, his projects crude, his capacity unequal to 
the undertaking, and his professions occasionally insincere : but still we 
should remember that the party whom he opposed had always been the 
greatest foes of religious liberty, and that the Dissenters had every thing 
to hope from the removal of that party from power. While considering 
the history of this period, it is impossible to attribute the conduct of men 
in general to motives of a secular nature ; their motives, if we may be 
allowed to judge, were almost invariably religious. " The truly orthodox 
members of our church (says Charles James Fox, in his valuable fragment) 
regarded monarchy not as a human, but as a divine institution, and passive 
obedience and non-resistance, not as political maxims, but as articles of 
religion." — All the grievances of which the Dissenters complained, and 
from which they hoped to be freed by a new government, had their source 
in, or were intimately connected with, designs to crush every body of re- 
ligionists which did not avow High-Church principles. Witness some of 



268 



DORCHESTER. 



This tragedy was performed during the ministry 
of Mr. Churchill, and his congregation was, doubt- 
less, in some degree affected by it. No records of 
the church having been preserved, it is uncertain 
how long this pastor lived ; but it is said that Mr. 
Baruch Nowell, who was probably his successor, 
came to Dorchester in 1689.* Mr. Nowell is men- 
tioned by Mr. John Fox, in the interesting ''me- 
moirs of himself" published in the Monthly Reposi- 
tory, and quoted in my account of the Plymouth 
congregation. The following passage refers to a 

the most prominent events of the reign of Charles the Second — the passing 
of the Act of Uniformity — the proceedings in reference to the pretended 
Popish plots — the famous decree of the University of Oxford on the day of 
the execution of Lord Russell, followed by the expulsion of Mr. Locke. 
Witness also the conduct of James the Second on the eve of Monmouth's 
invasion — his hypocrisy in pretending to uphold the Church of England 
while secretly endeavouring to bring back Popery — his attempt to force 
episcopacy upon the people of Scotland at the expense of the blood of 
thousands of upright and conscientious men — and his sanction of the ini- 
quitous persecutions can-ied on against the Dissenters at every assizes, at 
every court in the kingdom. Those who censure the early Nonconformists 
for joining the standard of Monmouth should pai'ticularly remember 
the treatment which Baxter, their learned, exemplary, and eminent 
teacher, experienced at the hands of JeflFeries ; they should remember how 
this venerable man was convicted against evidence by a packed jury — how 
a judge in the confidence of the king loaded him with the coarsest re- 
proaches, called him sometimes in derision a saint, and sometimes in 
plainer terms an old rogue, classed him with the infamous Oates, who had 
been lately convicted of perjury, and charged him with being the principal 
incendiary in a design to ruin the king and nation. For ray ow n part, 
when I reflect on these things, I feel that I should be ashamed of my an- 
cestors, — of the founders of the Dissenting Churches in the West of En- 
gland, if they had not, with such insufferable provocations, acted upon the 
righteous maxim, — rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God. 

* This information was derived from the report of two or three old 
members who were living in 1773, and recorded by the Rev. A. Edwards, 
one of the later mmisters. Sec an account found among his papers and 
sent after his death to the Mon. Rep., O. S., Vol. xxi. p. ()29. 

t In Mr. Fox's i)apcrs the name is Howell. The liist letter may be 



DORCHESTER. 



269 



tour he had made with Mr. Gilling, of Newton, 
that gentleman having been obliged to leave home 
in disguise in consequence of a process out against 
him for keeping a Latin school, contrary to the 
Schism Act, and young Fox having been ordered 
by his father to accompany him to London, for the 
double purpose of seeing the world and being made 
orthodox : j/ioi i 

" I knew nothing of the bargain at first, and 
therefore I set out highly delighted with the pros- 
pect of an agreeable ramble, and of seeing new 
things and new places. We left Plymouth in the 
beginning of March, 1712. We got to Tavistock 
the first day, and the next day to a farmer's house 
near Tiverton. From thence we skulked through 
by and cross roads to Honiton, and so on till we 
got clear of the county of Devon and the bailiffs 
who were in pursuit of us. The first halt we made 
was at Dorchester, where Mr. Gilling was acquaints, 
ed with one Mr. Howell, minister of the Dissenters 
in that place. Here we spent two or three days 
very agreeably, for he was a man of good sense and 
of generous principles. He was easy and genteel in? 
his conversation, well acquainted with mankind and 
the world, and was well known and respected, and 
yet the most disagreeable preacher I ever heard in 
my life. He seemed to think much the same way 
I did about creeds, articles, and high priests, and 

easily mistaken in illegible writing. That the two writers, Fox and Ed- 
wards, alluded to the same person, is evident from the agreement of their 
account in all other particulars. 



270 



DOHCHESTER. 



seemed very far from offering arguments in favour 
of the ministry. I remember Mr. Gilling preached 
for him one part of Sunday, and on Monday appear- 
ed in the public Coffee in his lay habit and long 
wig, to the very great diversion of many who had 
seen him in a different dress and character the 
day before. " * 

Mr. Nowell was minister at Dorchester fifty 
years. He died in 1739 of the small pox, with the 
symptoms of which he was taken ill in the pulpit, 
where he fell back while preaching. His friends 
carried him home, and in a few days the disease 
proved fatal. He was succeeded by Mr. Kettle, a 
^native of Evesham, who, after officiating six or seven 
years, removed to Worcester, where he spent the 
greater part of his life. At Dorchester he was inti- 
mate with a neighbouring gentleman, who, among 
various marks of regard, offered him some good pre- 
ferment in the Church of England, provided he 
would conform. Mr. Kettle's refusal was the more 
praiseworthy, as his tastes, manners, and attain- 
ments would have rendered the advantages of such 
a situation peculiarly valuable to him. After his 
removal, the congregation were left for some time 
dependent on occasional supplies, owing, it is sup- 
posed, to doctrinal differences among the members. 
At length they chose Mr. Benjamin Spencer, who 
was probably educated at one of the London Aca- 
demies, and settled at no other place than Dorches- 
ter, where he died of a dropsy in 1755, at the early 

Mon. Repos., Vol. xvi. p. 132. 



DOHCHESTER. 



271 



age of twenty-eight. Nearly as short was the career 
of his successor^ Mr. Samuel Phillips^ whose father 
was at the same time minister at Poole, and who 
was taken off, by a fever, in 1761, in the thirty- 
second year of his age. The writer of the sketch 
already quoted says that on more than one occasion 
he heard the names of Spencer and Phillips men- 
tioned in terms of respect by some of the old mem- 
bers of the society. In the year 1762, Mr. Timothy 
Lamb became the pastor; he also died before he 
had arrived at the meridian of life, having for some 
years been greatly afflicted by hereditary gout. 
Mr. Lamb was succeeded by Mr. Abel Edwards, 
who had been his assistant two years previously. 
In 1771, this gentleman removed from Dorchester 
to Nailsworth, to supply a congregation in that 
neighbourhood for six months. About the time of 
Mr. Lamb s death, Mr. Edwards received unani- 
mous invitations from both places. He preferred 
going to Dorchester, was ordained there in 1772, 
resigned his office in 1813, and died at the age of 
seventy-eight, in 1826. He was succeeded by Mr. 
Treleaven, who spent four years as minister of this 
congregation. Mr. Edwards left directions in 
writing that no memorial of him should be recorded. 
The sketch in which this modest injunction is com- 
municated is thus concealed : The present minister 
is the Rev. Lewis Lewis, who pursues his labours 
amongst an affectionate people with great accep- 
tableness, and it is their earnest wish that his con- 
nexion with them may extend to a period as pro- 



272 



DORCHESTER. 



tracted as was the ministry and life of his highly 
and universally respected predecessor." 

Of the meeting-house Mr. Edwards has given the 
following account: ''This is a decent huilding, 
measuring fifty feet long and forty broad. It was 
erected in or about the year 1720. There was 
before that time a meeting-house in what was then, 
and still is, termed the Friary, whence the congre- 
gation removed to Pease Lane. The edifice here, 
when first raised, had a double roof, tiled, and sup- 
ported by two large and heavy looking brick pillars, 
in which state it remained many years. At length, 
however, in the year 1808, the timbers of every de- 
scription, notwithstanding several previous repairs, 
were found to be so much decayed, that it became 
necessary to take down the whole roof and put on 
another. The new roof is single, covered with lead, 
and nearly flat, having a sky-light dome in the 
centre, which has a pleasing effect. At the same 
time the massy pillars, being no longer wanted, 
were removed, and sashes were substituted for case- 
ments, besides various other alterations and im-^ 
provements, made at a considerable expense, so as 
to render this place of worship upon the whole both 
neat and convenient. It is accommodated with a 
vestry, a vestry library, a small gallery, and an 
organ." There is a small burial-ground attached to 
the chapel, and several persons were formerly buried 
in it; but it is now seldom used for that purpose. 
Three of the ministers, Mr. Spencer, Mr. Phillips, - 
and Mr. Lamb, are interred in the aisle opposite the 



DORCHESTER. 



273 



pulpit. They rest in the same grave, over which is 
a plain stone, merely recording their names, the 
time of their death, and their respective ages. 

We have little information respecting the opinions 
of this society. Mr. Benn s published works were 

A Vindication of the Christian Sabbath against 
the Jewish," and "Sermons concerning Soul-pros- 
perity."* The latter were published after his death 
by his assistant and successor, Mr. Churchill, of 
whom nothing further is recorded. From Mr. 
John Fox's notice of Mr. Nowell's liberality, we 
may infer that the congregation were by no means 
"'highly orthodox" during his protracted ministry. 
"' He seemed to think (says this writer) much the 
same way as I did about creeds, articles, and high 
priests, and seemed very far from offering arguments 
in favour of the ministry," that is, of Fox's en- 
gaging in it with his views on the subject of sub- 
scription. The declension, as many would call the 
gradual adoption of milder and more rational views 
of the Gospel, continued under the services of Mr. 
Nowell's successors. In the time of Mr. Edwards, 
both pastor and people proceeded from moderate 
Calvinism to low Arianism. The congregation 
have since become decidedly Unitarian. 

The institutions supported by this society are a 
Sunday-school of boys and girls, and a chapel li- 
brary. The latter was formed soon after Mr. 
Lewis's settlement at Dorchester, and now contains 
nearly four hundred volumes. 

* NoTicon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 450. 
T 



274 



DORCHESTER. 



William Benn, M. A 1662—1680. 



Joshua Churchill 1662 — 1689. 

Baruch Nowell 1689 — 1739. 

James Kettle 1739 — 1746. 

Benjamin Spencer 1748 — 1755. 

Samuel Phillipps 1755 — 1761. 

Timothy Lamb 1762 — 1772. 

Abel Edwards 1772—1813. 

Benjamin Treleaven 1813 — 1817. 

Lewis Lewis 1817. 



The Rev. William Benn, M.A., of Queen's College, Ox- 
ford, was an eminent divine, famous in all the West of England. 
He was some time preacher at Oakingham, in Berkshire, and 
afterwards chaplain to the Marchioness of Northampton. From 
this situation he was removed hy the interest of the celebrated 
Mr. John White, called the Patriarch of Dorchester, where he 
continued, in great reputation, Rector of Allhallows, till he was 
ejected. He was not satisfied with constantly labouring at the 
church, but preached on a week-daj to the prisoners in the jail, 
which was in his parish, and caused a chapel to be built within 
the prison walls, principally at his own expense. He was richly 
furnished with all ministerial abilities ; his perseverance in 
prayer was unparalleled ; he prayed in his study seven times a 
day : and it was his custom at stated seasons to give God thanks 
for certain deliverances from danger which befel him. He died 
in 1 680, having been a faithful and successful labourer in the 
Christian vineyard more than fifty years. * 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 450. 



DORCHESTER. 



275 



The Rev Timothy Lamb was born at Wimborn, in Dor- 
setshire. His academical studies were pursued in London under 
Dr, Marrjatt.* Soon after they were finished, he accepted an 
unanimous invitation from the congregation in Deadman's 
Place. There he was ordained, and there, for some years, he 
discharged the duties of the pastoral office with general accept- 
ance. He removed to Dorchester, by the advice of his friends, 
with the hope that country air would improve his health, which 
had suffered much from attacks of gout. In this respect he was 
disappointed : yet his afflictions were not without a useful ten- 
dency. Few persons could have a larger share of bodily suffer- 
ings than he had, and few could be more patient under them. 
His sermons were supposed to be peculiarly adapted to meet 
the cases of the afflicted. Mr. Lamb's ministerial endowments 
were respectable ; and though obliged to sit constantly in the 
pulpit, there was an earnestness in his strain of preaching which 
served to engage attention and to enforce what he delivered. 
His integrity was unquestionable ; he was generous to the full 
proportion of his limited means ; a kind husband, an affectionate 
father, a sincere and steady friend. Mr. Lamb's only publica- 
tion, besides contributions to the Christian Magazine, and a 
poetical effusion composed at the age of fifteen, was a sermon 
entitled "The Words of Knowledge." 

* Such is the statement in the Monthly Repository. Mr. Wilson repre- 
sents Mr. Lamb as placed, first under the care of the Rev. S. Reader at 
Wareham, and afterwards at the Academy in London conducted by Dr. 
Jennings and Dr. Savage. Wilson's Hist., Vol. iv. p. 204, 



WAREHAM 



Ware HAM is situated on a peninsula formed by the rivers Frome 
and Piddle, near their confluence with the waters of Poole Harbour. 
The true etymology of Wareham is probably from V ara-ham, a habi- 
tation on a fishing shore. 

The town is built on a rising ground, and forms almost a long 
square. The buildings are mostly constructed of brick : the streets 
are spacious and open, intersecting each other at right angles. The 
area on which it stands is computed at one hundred acres, and is in- 
closed, except on the south side, by a high rampart, or wall of earth. 
The space between this wall and the town was anciently occupied by 
houses, the foundations of which still remain. At present it consists 
chiefly of extensive garden-grounds. 

Wareham had formerly eight churches, three only of which remain. 
That dedicated to the Holy Trinity is reputed the Mother-Church, but 
does not contain any thing remarkable. St. Martinis is an ancient 
structure, neatly fitted up. The principal church in the town is St. 
Mary's, a lofty fabric, and, with the exception of Sherborne and Wim- 
born, the most spacious and ancient in the county 

The port of Wareham was formerly considerable. It had once a 
Court of Admiralty : the quay lies on the south side of the town ; a 
large part of the trade consists in the exportation of pipe clay, vast 
quantities of which are obtained from the pits round the town ; and 
nearly ten thousand tons are annually shipped for London, Hull, 
Liverpool, Glasgow, &c., for the supply of the various potteries. This 
clay is of considerable use in the composition of Staffordshire ware. — 
Britton and Brayley. 

Population in 1811,-1709; in 1821,-1931 ; in 1831,-2325. 



UNITARIAN CHAPEL. 



A SOCIETY of Nonconformists sprang up at Ware* 
ham in those times of persecution to which so many 
references are made in this volume. Mr. Chaplyn 
was ejected from the parish by the Act of Unifor- 
mity ; but it is not said that he preached afterwards, 
either in the town or neighbourhood. When he 
was silenced he had eight children; and it being 
necessary that something should be done for their 
support, Mrs. Chaplyn engaged, successfully, in a 
malting business.* 

We are told that Mr. Clark, the son-in-law of an 
ejected minister in Wiltshire, was the first Dissent- 
ing minister at Wareham.f The other particulars 
of the early history of the old Nonconformist society, 
it does not come within my plan to relate, the mem- 
bers being now Trinitarian. My object is to fur- 
nish an account of the origin of the Unitarian con- 
gregation, the leading members of which belonged, 
until lately, to the original place of worship. I 
shall select from the correspondence, on both sides, 
those circumstances which appear to have been al- 



* Noiicon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 4/5, 



t Ibid., Vol. ii. p. 505. 



WAREHAM. 



279 



most unanimously considered as mainly instrumental 
in bringing about the present state of things. 

For very many years the congregation ranked 
under the denomination of Presbyterian.* Mr. 
Kell, the minister at the close of the last century, 
and who is still living at Birmingham, was an 
Arian. He was succeeded by Mr. Thomas, a gen- 
tleman recommended by Mr. Manning, an Arian 
minister at Exeter. ""His sentiments (said Mr. 
M., in his letter to the congregation) entirely coin- 
cide with your present minister's — Mr. Keirs.^f 
Mr. Thomas filled the office twenty-two years ; — in 
1822 he resigned; and in the following year he 
died at Thickthorn, near Ilminster.J During the 
latter part of his life he possessed some peculiari- 
ties of opinion which prevented his classing himself 
decidedly with any party. Yet he was on terms of 
religious fellowship with Unitarians ; he generally 
attended the meetings of their associations, and not 
those of the '^orthodox." He certainly preferred 
Watts's Hymns, but he frequently altered or omitted 
their Calvinistic phraseology; and he invited Trini- 
tarian ministers to his pulpit, but they never return- 
ed the compliment. - ^ 

During the ministry of Mr. Thomas, as well as 
that of his predecessor, some of the oldest and most 
opulent members of the congregation were Anti- 
trinitarians. These were the descendants of per- 
sons who, for generations, had been the chief sup- 

* Mon. Rcpos., N. S., Vol. iii. p. 207. f Ibid., p. 437. 

Obituary of Mr. Thomas, Mon. Rcpos., O. S., Vol. xviii. p. 0"05. 



280 



WAREHAM. 



porters of the Presbyterian interest at Wareham. 
But some years before the resignation of Mr. 
Thomas, their influence began to be diminished, in 
consequence of the exertions of a Calvinistic gentle- 
man who had lately settled in their town and married 
a lady of the congregation. This gentleman ap- 
proving many of the sentiments of the minister, and 
being related to several of the members, attended 
the chapel, and was anxious to be appointed a 
Trustee, though he knew there were strong objec- 
tions to his filling the ofiice. At a meeting in 1818, 
on perceiving some hesitation on the part of his fel- 
low-worshipers, he said, *^'If I am not worthy a 
place in your trust, I will not occupy one in your 
church and congregation." The appeal was suc- 
cessful ; — he was admitted,* 

From this time the new Trustee was active in 
diffusing his own religious opinions. He circulated 
tracts of an orthodox tendency among the young; 
and when opportunities offered, introduced Trinita- 
rian ministers to the pulpit. Various other charges 
were made against him, the most important of 
which was, that he practised great duplicity in en- 
deavouring to deprive the Unitarians of their place 
of worship. 

These charges were denied ; a long letter, in 
reply to them, was published in the Monthly Re- 
pository, and another letter, substantiating them, 
quickly followed. That they were made without 
foundation, it is difficult to believe ; we are disposed 

* Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. iii. p. 



WAREHAM. 



281 



to make every allowance for, nay, to admire, the 
Christian zeal of one who believes he is opposing 
the progress of dangerous error, — -but further we 
cannot go. After Calvinism had gained the ascen- 
dancy, the gentleman who had laboured to promote 
it called on a Unitarian in the district, to justify his 
conduct. — ''Have you acted in a kind and chari- 
table manner.^" was the question. The ''orthodox" 
Trustee answered, " If I had done as much for Uni- 
tarianism as I have for Calvinism, you would have 
felt differently." — "I might have /<?/^ differently," 
said the Unitarian, "though I never, under any 
circumstances, could have considered such conduct 
becoming either a Christian or a gentleman."* 

For some time after this change, the Unitarian 
section of the society continued to occupy the places 
of their forefathers in the old meeting. It was 
hoped that, as there w^as already a Calvinistic con- 
gregation in the town with whom the others might 
worship, the new party would at length yield. But 
this was not the case; the Unitarians w^ere com- 
pelled to withdraw and form themselves into a dis- 
tinct society ; and on the first Sunday in the month 
of February, 1828, though but a small flock and 
without a pastor, they commenced assembling to- 
gether in a temporary place of worship, opened by 
the Rev. J. Mitchelson, of Poole, with the hope 
that, under the Divine blessing, their numbers 
would increase, and their spiritual wants be sup- 
plied. They were not disappointed ; at first the 

Mou. Repob,, N. S., Vol. iii. p. 138. 



282 



WAREHAM. 



house was kept open by the reading of one of the 
members and by the services of neighbouring min- 
isters ; for the space of three months the congrega- 
was favoured with the services of Mr. Kell^ one of 
the former pastors ; and at the close of a year they 
had the services of a settled pastor^ Mr. Henry 
Squire^ from the York College, A large proportion 
of the congregation were, at this period, of the 
poorer classes ;* they had read, with attention and 
with understanding, various tracts which had been 
put into their hands ; they had searched the Scrip- 
tures for themselves, and recovered from the alarm 
which their Calvinistic friends had excited respect- 
ing the supposed dreadful tendency of Unitarianism ; 
they had found in the doctrines every where spoken 
against, a rich supply for their greatest wants as 
erring and sinful, yet rational and accountable crea- 
tures. 

Finding themselves thus encouraged, the leading 
members of the new society contemplated the erec- 
tion of a commodious place of worship. Meanwhile, 
various steps were taken to allay the irritation 
which had been occasioned by the retirement of the 
Unitarians from the old chapel. The gentleman 
who had made the charge of duplicity against the 
''orthodox" trustee offered to meet him for the pur- 
pose of proving it, which offer he thought fit to 
decline. Then, the Association of Independent 
Ministers for the county of Dorset proposed that 
three members of their body should meet three sub- 

* Mon. Rei)Os., N. S., Vol. iii. p. 212. 



WAREHAM. 



283 



scribers to the Southern Unitarian Fund.* This 
proposal was received in a spirit of conciliation, 
but not acceded to, because the charge had not been 
made against a congregation, but against an indivi- 
dual; and because the Association, by holding a 
meeting in the old chapel at Wareham and assisting 
at the ordination of its nev^ minister, had prejudged 
the question. Other reasons v^ere also assigned of 
equal v^eight ; the Calvinistic arbitrators, however, 
thought proper to meet, examine evidence, and pub- 
lish their opinion. Their number was reduced to 
two by illness ; these confessed, in substance, that 
the statements before them were only ex-parte ; it 
would be wrong, therefore, to attach much impor- 
tance to their published opinion as to the right of 
the present occupants of the place to their possession 
of it, and as to the meritorioiisness of the efforts of 
the individual whose conduct had been arraigned. f 
Thus ended this unfortunate affair. — I have entered 
more fully into the details of it than my inclination 
prompted, for two reasons, — it appeared right to 
record on the pages of a history of the Western 
Churches a few particulars of one instance of the 
loss, to the Unitarians, by the non-appointment of 
suitable Trustees, of the chapels in which they and 
their ancestors had been accustomed to worship. I 
presumed, also, that I might be allowed to remind 
such of my readers as may be placed in similar cir- 
cumstances, that, whether they claim rights which 



* Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. iii. p. 888. 



t Ibkl., Vol. iv. p. 137. 



284 



WAREHAM. 



they do not possess, or defend those which they 
have long enjoyed, — the highest considerations are 
fairness, kindness, candour, charity, the preserva- 
tion of a conscience void of offence tov^ards God 
and towards man. 

While the provincial associations were consider- 
ing the proceedings of the past, the new congregation 
were energetically preparing for the future. Mr. 
Squire's zealous and judicious exertions having been 
attended with gradually increasing success, the 
members of his flock commenced the erection of a 
place of worship. This was accomplished at an 
expense of about ^£1500., which, with a trifling ex- 
ception, was defrayed by five or six of the persons 
who had been accustomed to worship in the old 
meeting. On Wednesday, the twenty-ninth of Sep- 
tember, 1830, the new building was opened by a 
public religious service; the devotional part was 
conducted by the Rev. M. Maurice, of Southampton, 
and the sermon, which is justly characterised as 
eloquent and impressive, was delivered by the Eev. 
R. Aspland, of Hackney.* During this service the 
chapel was well filled ; but in the evening, when 
the working classes had finished their daily labour, 
the aisles were crowded, and many were prevented 
by want of room from hearing another discourse by 
Mr. Aspland on the delightful nature of the Divine 

* This sermon has been published. The text is singularly appropriate ; 
1 Cor. iv. 13 : "Being defamed, we intreat." The arguments must make 
a deep hnpression on all who arc desirous of exercising that charity which 
" thinkcth no evil." 



WAREHAM. 



285 



assurance that the blessings of knowledge, liberty, 
and religious truth shall be handed down from one 
generation to another to the end of time. * 

The results of the animating proceedings of the 
day were highly gratifying. A considerable addition 
was soon made to the number of permanent mem- 
bers of the society. About six months after this 
event they lost their first pastor, Mr. Squire, — that 
gentleman having removed to Yarmouth in com- 
pliance with an encouraging congregational invita- 
tion. His place at Wareham was filled by Mr. 
Wallace, who had previously discharged ministerial 
duties at Totness, York Street, (London,) Preston, 
and Brighton. This gentleman is still the pastor 
of the Wareham congregation, and has the happi- 
ness of seeing the cause which, in its infancy, had 
to struggle with so many difficulties, maintain an 
honourable position and acquire increasing respect 
and attachment. 

They have a chapel library of three hundred 
volumes and a Sunday-school of forty children. 

* Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. iv. p. 869. SSW Isq&do 

mow QiU 



POOLE 



A TOWN and county of itself, deriving its name from the bay or pool 
on the north side of which it is situated. It stands on a peninsula 
connected by a narrow isthmus with the main land. Being on the 
borders of a wide, desolate heath, and on an unsheltered shore, it has 
a dreary and bleak appearance. The peninsula is three quarters of a 
mile long, and half a mile wide ; and within that compass are three 
or four considerable streets, running nearly north-east and south-west. 

The borough of Poole is very ancient, as appears from William 
Long-espe granting a number of privileges to the burgesses both by 
land and by sea on payment of seventy marks. His charter was con- 
firmed by William Montacute, who changed the office denominated, 
in the former charter, Praepositus, into Mayor. Other liberties were 
afterwards given and confirmed to the town by different monarchs ; but 
for its most considerable privileges, Poole is indebted to Elizabeth. 
This sovereign incorporated and made it a free town, and, after adding 
other immunities, directed it to be formed into a distinct county, and 
to appoint its own Sheriff, &c., in the same manner as the town and 
county of Southampton. — Britton and Brayley. 

Population in 1811,-4816; in 1821,-6390; in 1831,-6459. 



OLD MEETING, HILL STREET. 



Nonconformity did not excite attention at Poole 
so early as at many other places. Mr. Samuel 
Hardy was ejected from the parish, but not until 
twelve or fourteen years after the passing of the 
Act of Uniformity. He was the minister at Poole 
during this interval, and, being a liberal man, it is 
probable that no society of Nonconformists was 
even secretly formed in the town while he remained 
in the Established Church. 

The particulars of Mr. Hardy's life illustrate the 
history of the times. He was dismissed from Wad- 
ham College, when about to take the degree of 
Master of Arts, because he would not take the oaths. 
He then went to Charminster, a peculiar, belonging 
to the family of Trenchards, and excluded, by this 
circumstance, from all episcopal jurisdiction. The 
minister here was a kind of chaplain to his patrons ; 
and by their influence and a little conformity, such 
as reading the creed, lessons, commandments, scrip- 
ture sentences, and prayer for the king, Mr. Hardy 
was protected from the neighbouring justices.* 

When he had lived at Charminster a considerable 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol, i. p. 466* 



POOLE. 



289 



time, the inhabitants of Poole invited him to that 
living, vv^hich was also a peculiar. Here, how^ever, 
though he preached, prayed, and conversed in the 
same manner as before, his situation was more 
hazardous. The public duties he was required to 
perform, as pastor of the flock, were regarded by 
the rigid Conformists in the neighbourhood as traps 
either for his conscience or his personal safety. On 
one occasion he was desired to baptize a child ; — if 
he had used the form in the Common Prayer Book, 
he would have deserted his principles ; if he had not 
used it, and yet performed the ceremony, he would 
have been ejected; he escaped by inducing a clerical 
friend to act as his substitute. 

But Mr. Hardy was too obnoxious to be always 
allowed to discharge his duty in his own way. 
After various attempts had been made, in vain, to 
detect him acting illegally, a commission was ap- 
pointed to try his title to Poole. Three bishops 
were included, but they refused to act in any pro- 
ceeding that might appear prejudicial to the autho- 
rity of their own courts. The country gentlemen, 
however, were willing both to act and to convict. 
They appointed a sermon, before which the clerk 
set a psalm, and the minister went into the pulpit 
without using the Common Prayer. This was 
enough; they discarded him without further cere- 
mony, and he was obliged to quit the town imme- 
diately. He removed to Badsley, where he con- 
tinued two years in the pastoral office, meeting with 

u 



290 



POOLE. 



much trouble for not conforming to the canons. 
After this he never preached in public. 

Mr. Hardy's dismissal, which took place about 
the year 1674, probably occasioned the establish- 
ment of a church of Nonconformists at Poole. 
Their first minister appears to have been Mr. John 
Wesley — also an ejected minister, the son of Mr. 
Bartholomew Wesley, of Charmouth, and the grand- 
father of the celebrated founder of Methodism. On 
the passing of the Act of Uniformity, he was Vicar 
of Whitchurch, in Dorsetshire, from which place 
he removed to Melcomb, but was quickly driven 
thence by an order from the corporation against his 
settlement under heavy penalties. Mr. Wesley then 
visited Bridgwater, Ilminster, and Taunton ; in 
these towns he met with great kindness from Dis- 
senters of the three denominations ; and, encouraged 
by them, he preached almost every day in the vari- 
ous places which he visited. At length, a gentle- 
man who had a very good house at Preston, two or 
three miles from Melcomb, gave him leave to oc- 
cupy it rent-free ; and it was while he resided here 
that the Nonconformists at Poole chose him to be 
their pastor. In this relation he continued as long 
as he lived.* 

Mr. Wesley probably officiated in a retired room 
or some obscure detached building. Although full 
of Christian courage when circumstances required 
it, he deemed it right to avoid publicity while the 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 484. 



POOLE. 



291 



times were unsettled. The present place of worship, 
which is situated in Hill Street, was built in 1705^ 
—it is presumed for Mr. Madgwick, who was very 
popular, and seems to have succeeded Mr. Wesley. 
The congregation flourished to such a degree that, 
in 1721, it was necessary to enlarge the building, 
which is now fifty feet square, having a double roof 
supported by four pillars in the centre. It has a 
substantial appearance, and is kept in good order, 
partly by means of a small endowment for that 
purpose, (the only one in possession of the con- 
gregation,) bequeathed by a lady during the minis- 
try of the Rev. A. Bennet. In the year 1817, a 
small organ was presented to the chapel by Mr. 
William Young, of Kingston, Jamaica ; and about 
the same time a congregational library was formed 
at the suggestion of Mr. Bennet. There is a small 
burying-ground attached to the meeting-house. In 
the interior of the building, over the pulpit, is a 
marble slab, with the following inscription : 

To THE MEMORY OF JoSEPH StEPHENSON, WHO FOR FORTY-FIVE 
YEARS, DURING WHICH HE FILLED THE OFFICE OF ClBRK OF THIS 

meeting, manifested a steady attachment to the cause of 
Religious Liberty, the Right of Private Judgment, and 

THE practice OF RATIONAL ReLIGION. HiS FrAILTIES FOR 

frailties he IfAD, (AND WHO IS PERFECT?) LIE HUMBLED IN 
THE DUST. To COMMEMORATE HIS VIRTUES, AND AS A MONU- 
MENT OF THEIR RESPECT AND ESTEEM, THIS TabLET IS IN- 
SCRIBED BY THE CONGREGATION. He SUCCEEDED HIS FaTHER 

AS Clerk in the year 1766, and died on the 19th of July, 

1810, AGED 87 YEARS.* 



* Communicated, with many other particulars, by Mr. Naish, of Poole. 

u 2 



292 



POOLE. 



Mr. Madgwick died in March, 1734. He seems 
to have had a colleague in Mr. Matthew Towgood, 
who settled at Poole in 1729, but soon relinquished 
the ministry and engaged in business. In 1735, 
Mr. Thomas Rowe filled the pastoral office at Poole; 
how long he remained I cannot ascertain. He was 
succeeded by Mr. Hayward, who removed to Lon- 
don in 1752. Then came Mr. Phillipps, the father 
of the minister of the same name at Dorchester. In 
his time the congregation presented the singular 
scene of being, as Unitarians consider, in advance 
of their pastor in seeking and finding religious 
truth. He continued among them till the beginning 
of the year 1758, when the diversity of sentiment 
which had long existed rose to such a height as to 
occasion a division of the society. " The pastor 
(says my informant) had advanced doctrines not 
congenial with the opinions of the more moderate 
of his hearers, who also happened to be the majority, 
and he maintained them in a manner so disgusting, 
that, after much indecorous altercation, he was 
locked out of the pulpit, and his adherents followed 
him." 

Mr. Phillipps was succeeded by Mr, Howel, who 
removed to Poole from Enfield, and afterwards 
settled at Yeovil and Bridgwater. He was a man 
of good sense, liberal mind, and moderate senti- 
ments ; and for some years the congregation con- 
tinued large. It was now at the summit of its 
prosperity ; Mr. Howel's ministry was well attend- 
ed and highly appreciated ; but at length his mild 



POOLE. 



293 



and sensible discourses were discovered to be less 
attractive than the fervid preaching of the ortho- 
dox. His hearers gradually diminished; and his 
stipend being consequently reduced, he found it ne- 
cessary, in 1782, to remove to Yeovil, where he had 
greater prospects of usefulness and better means 
for the support of his family, A similar account 
might be given of many Presbyterian congregations 
at this period. Their ministers had not only adopted 
Arian or Unitarian sentiments, but had acquired, 
in not a few instances, greater intellectual refine- 
ment than their immediate predecessors. Some 
happily deemed these acquisitions perfectly com- 
patible with great earnestness in the discharge of 
their pulpit and pastoral duties, and with a style of 
of preaching doctrinal as well as practical, evan- 
gelical as well as rational. The majority, however, 
though possessed of good talents, and though emi- 
nently useful by their private examples and literary 
labours, did not accommodate themselves to the 
wants and wishes of the age. They persisted in 
composing and reading sermons which could only 
be admired by the select few; and hence the nu- 
merical declensions which mark the history of the 
Presbyterians at the close of the last century. May 
their successors, especially those who are young, 
pursue a different course; may they remember that 
the Grospel is designed to be preached to all, and 
that he is most worthy to be called a Christian 
minister who values intellectual treasures chiefly as 
they enable him to reach, reform, and elevate the 



294 



POOLE. 



poor and ignorant in common with the wealthy and 
enlightened ! 

Mr. Howel's successor at Poole was Mr. Evan 
Davies, who^ being a gentleman of some property, 
was able to settle here. During the first years of 
his ministry the society increased ; but afterwards 
it again diminished, and, in 1794, Mr. Davies 
accepted an invitation to Lewes. The next was 
Mr. William Lamport, during whose residence 
at Poole there was once more a considerable im- 
provement. Soon after the settlement of this gentle- 
man, a service was conducted, the particulars of 
which, as such forms then began to be disused 
among the English Presbyterians, may be copied 
into this work. 

"The Rev. W. Lamport, son of the late mgenious W. Lam- 
port, of HoultoD, having officiated abont eighteen months to the 
congregation in the old meeting-honse at Poole, much to the 
satisfaction of his hearers, at their request was solemnly com- 
mitted to the blessing of God in the full discharge of his pastoral 
duties, on Wednesday, June 22, 1796. T. Howe, of Bridport, 
began by prayer and reading suitable portions of Scripture, with 
a brief comment. S. Fawcett offered up the general intercessory 
prayer for all states and conditons of men. J. Manning, of 
Exeter, preached from 2 Cor. xiii. 8 : " For we can do nothing 
against the truth, but for the truth;" proving that all the 
attempts of unbelievers had turned out, and were likely to turn 
out, to the furtherance of the gospel, by drawing forth convincing 
defences. J. Cornish, of Colyton, explained the design of the 
present meeting, proposed to the young minister certain questions 
relating to his ideas of Christianity, the Reformation, and his 
reasons for engaging in the work of the ministry amongst Dis- 
senters, and then commended him in prayer to the fa^•our and 



POOLE. 



295 



blessing of the Almiglity, in the connexion he had formed. 
J. Horsey, of Northampton, delivered a charge from John xxi. 
15, shewing that a sincere love to Christ would lay the best 
foundation for fidelity and diligence in a preacher of the gospel ; 
and R. Kell, of Wareham, concluded with prayer and a bene- 
diction. Suitable psalms and hymns were read by J. Jeffries, 
of Ringwood, at the proper intervals for singing. A very 
numerous, attentive audience, comprising members of the Esta- 
blishment and other denominations, expressed their approbation 
of the manner in which the whole service was conducted, and 
several ministers, besides those engaged, expressed their friendly 
regards by attending. * 

In 1804, Mr. Lamport removed to Lancaster, and 
left no successor in the pastoral office at Poole. 
The service v^as then conducted with much pro- 
piety and praiseworthy zeal by Mr. John Elson, a 
young member of the congregation. By this means 
the chapel was kept open every Lord's day for six- 
teen months, at the end of which Mr. Seaward ac- 
cepted an invitation, and was also regularly ordain- 
ed. The writer of an account of this service -j* 
remarks, that ''''the highly respectable members of 
the congregation had for a series of years eminently 
distinguished themselves as the friends of civil and 
religious liberty." Mr. Seaward resigned in 1815; 
and another member of the congregation — Mr. 
Thomas Lamport, undertook to lead the devotions 
and promote the moral and religious improvement 
of the flock. His services were respectably, though 
not numerously attended till the early part of the 

* p. D. M., Vol. iii. p. 279. 

t Mon. Rcpos., O. S., Vol. ii. p. 558. 



296 



POOLE. 



year 1817, when Mr. Bennett removed to Poole 
from Ditchling. At the commencement of his min- 
istry_, he proposed the establishment of a chapel 
library, which was immediately assented to. The 
successors of Mr. Bennett have been Mr. Mitchel- 
son and Mr. Rowntree, both of Manchester College, 
York. Mr. Mitchelson left Poole to accept an in- 
vitation from Diss. The congregation is still small; 
but it contains elements favourable to its growth. 
Among those at present connected with the congre- 
gation are two descendants of its earliest benefactor 
— the gentleman who gave the ground on which the 
older part of the building stands.* Others there 
are who cherish the memories, and are disposed to 
profit by the examples, of those friends to truth, 
freedom, charity, and holiness, who have worshiped 
in this place. 

Besides the chapel library there is a Sunday- 
school, and a collection of books for children. 



jl^mi'sters. 

John \Yesley, M.A — 

William Madgwick — 1734. 

Matthew Towgood 1729 — 1735. 

Thomas Rowe 1735 — 

Samuel Hay ward — 1752. 

Samuel Phillipps 1752 — 1758. 

John Howel 1758—1782. 

Evan Davies 1782— 17JM. 



* Unit. Chron., No. xv. p, yd. 



POOLE. 297 

William Lamport r.i»^fw4J *M- •> • ^^^^ — 

Roger Seaward 1805 — 1815. 

Abraham Bennett 1817 — 1826. 

John Mitchelson 1826—1834. 

Mark Rowntree 1834. 



additional particulars of the life of MR. hardf. 

After he left Badsley he was a private chaplain in Essex, 
whence he removed to Newbury, where he died in 1691. He 
won the regard and promoted the improvement of men of all 
classes by his Christian kindness and integrity. Several in- 
stances are on record of his courage and activity when the 
interests of his fellow- creatures were at stake. He once told a 
nobleman, Lord Brook, that men of high rank were the most 
unhappy in the world, because nobody dared tell them their 
faults, or shew them the right way to Heaven. His benevo- 
lence was manifested by his delight in doing good, and more 
particularly by his zeal in collecting nearly £500 for the pur- 
pose of redeeming captives from slavery. Nor did he deem 
it inconsistent with his office as a minister, to exert himself on 
important political occasions, and to throw his influence into 
the scale of honest independence, though at the risk of enduring 
the frowns of the powerful. While he was living at Poole, the 
inhabitants were called upon to choose a member of Parliament. 
The Earl of Shaftesbury, then Lord Chancellor, was very anx- 
ious to have his son elected ; but Mr. Hardy opposed his lord- 
ship, and exerted himself successfully on behalf of Mr. 
Trenchard, whom he thought a fitter man. The Chancellor 
was incensed, and wrote a very angry letter to his opponent, 
but was soon afterwards reconciled to him in consequence of 
his own honest representations of the state of the case.* 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 467, 



298 



POOLE, 



The Rev. J. Wesley, M. A.— This worthy ancestor of the 
founder of Methodism was educated at New Inn Hall, Oxford. 
His characteristics were not unlike those bj which his celebrated 
grandsons were distinguished. He was zealous, serious, and 
diligent ; willing to struggle with difficulties in the discharge of 
his duty, yet averse to plunge into needless danger. At the age 
of twenty-two, and in the year 1658, he was sent to preach at 
Whitchurch, in Dorsetshire. Soon after the Restoration, some 
of his neighbours persecuted him because he would not read the 
book of Common Prayer. He recorded in his diary two inte- 
resting conferences on this subject — one with the Bishop of 
Bristol, the other with Sir Gerard Napier, a country justice, by 
whom he had been imprisoned. These are interesting as shew- 
ing the opinions which were entertained at that period in refer- 
ence to the necessary qualifications for the pastoral office, and 
the manner in which bishops and justices exercised their power. 
Mr. Wesley, by preaching privately after his ejectment, pre- 
served his liberty longer than many of his brethren. Four 
ministers living in his neighbourhood determined on preaching 
with open doors, and were accordingly indicted at the next 
assizes for being present at riotous and unlawful assemblies; 
they were found guilty, fined forty marks each, and obliged to 
find security for their good behaviour. But all Mr. Wesley's 
caution could not save him fi-om the effects of wicked laws ; the 
Oxford x\ct obliged him to leave his family and his people ; and 
after he returned he was imprisoned four times, and appre- 
hended still more frequently. The sufferings, both of mind and 
body, to which he was exposed by the cruelty of the High-Church 
party, combined with other cirucmstances, produced an illness 
which terminated in his decease when he was only in the prime 
of life. Even then bigotry was not satisfied : the vicar of the 
parish in which he died, would not suffer his remains to be 
interred in the church.* 



* Noncon. Mem,, Vol. i. p. 186. 



COLLUMPTON. 
HONITON. 
COLYTON. 
SIDMOUTH. 

LYMPSTONE and GULLIFORD. 

TOPSHAM. 

EXETER. 

CREDITON. 

MORETON HAMPSTEAD. 
TAVISTOCK. 
PLYMOUTH. 
DEVONPORT. 



COLLUMPTON 



CoLLUMPTON, or Oullumpton, or Columbton, according to Risdon, 
is "the chiefest place on the river Culme, and was the King's demesne 
in the Saxon Heptarchy." Alfred bequeathed the manor to his son 
Ethelward, with other lands in the counties of Somerset and Hants. 

The town consists principally of one long street, badly paved. 
Through this street passes the turnpike road from Bath and Bristol 
to Exeter. Many of the houses are well built ; but the humbler 
dwellings are mostly constructed with cobb walls. The manufactures 
are of broad cloths, serges and kersymeres ; but the former are not 
made in any considerable quantity. — Britton and Brayley. 
Population in 1811,-2917 ; in 1821—3410 ; in 1831,-3813. 



UNITARIAN CHAPEL, 



CoLLUMPTON was One of the numerous places in 
Devonshire from which ministers were ejected in 
1662. The sufferer here was Mr. Crompton, who 
continued many years among his people after he 
quitted his living. Once in five or six weeks the 
inhabitants were ministered to by Mr. Batt, who 
had been driven, by the Act of Uniformity, from 
the living of Riston, in Somersetshire. 

Mr. Crompton preached in a dwelling-house 
some years after the Revolution.* About 1695, 
the congregation built a meeting-house which re- 
mained till 1815. In 1698, they chose for their 
pastor Mr. Richard Evans, who remained with them 
forty-five years. The register of baptisms was 
commenced by him on the day he first preached at 
CoUumpton — April 10th, 1698. This was origi- 
nally a private record begun by Mr. Evans, at 
Staverton, near Ashburton, January 6th, 1694. He 
obtained his certificate in 1695 at the Exeter 
Quarter Sessions, where he was registered as a 
" Dissenting minister in holy orders." Mr. Evans 
received the following letter of invitation : 



* English Presbyterian, p. 181. 



( 



COLLUMPTON. 303 



Collumpton, April Sth, 1698. 

" Reverend S^-, 

" The good report we have heard of you hath induced 
us to give you the trouble of these lines, being destitute of a 
minister and many of our congregation are desirous to heare 
you preach among us. We resolve to look no more after Mr. 
Meade, and this is our general resolution, wherefore desire that 
you would be with us the next Lord's day and preach heere. 
O'^ ffriend Mr. Pearce can give you an account how our affaires 
stand heere. If you speake to Mr. Meade, you will find that 
Mr. Smith, of Collumpton, hath given him a fall answer as to 
our resolution above written ; soe we desire you will, if possible, 
be heere next Sabbath and you will much oblige assured 
is ffriends, 

"Thomas Spied, 
"James Artnoll, 
"John Harris, 
" Anth. Codner." 

« To Mr. Richard Evans, 
Minister of the Gospell, 
these presents." 

With this invitation Mr. Evans complied; and 
his settlement at Collumpton v^as advantageous to 
the cause. In the early part of the last century the 
congregation was large ; many people in the neigh- 
bourhood being in the habit of joining it. As to 
the opinions of Mr. Evans and his flock there is no 
information ; from his only publication^ — " A Tract 
on Holiness/' it may be inferred that he w^as chiefly 
anxious to cultivate purity of heart and life. He 
died in 1743. During the next ten years, the so- 
ciety had several ministers. All appear to have 



1 



304 COLLUMPTON. 

held liberal opinions and to have prepared their 
hearers for adopting Unitarianism. Mr. Morgan, 
who became the pastor in 1754, had been led to 
relinquish orthodoxy by the writings of Mr. Peirce, 
and proceeded even farther than that celebrated 
man. 

The congregation declined in numbers towards 
the close of the last century. Many members had 
been previously removed by death without leaving 
families to supply their places; and about this 
period, other Dissenting chapels were erected in 
the neighbourhood. Then, however, a spirit of 
liberality prevailed in Collumpton, which was too 
soon extinguished. Soon after the establishment 
of Sunday-schools, many persons of various deno- 
minations were accustomed to meet on Sunday 
evenings, at the Presbyterian chapel. All the 
Sunday-scholars in the town assembled ; Mr. Mor- 
gan conducted the devotional parts of the service, 
and some respectable layman read a practical ser- 
mon. There are some yet living, who entertain 
a pleasing recollection of these services, and who 
deeply regretted the spirit of bigotry which put a 
stop to them. 

It is difficult for the young of the present day to 
form an adequate conception of the intemperate 
zeal against Dissenters, at the time of the French 
Revolution. A few, however, may have heard their 
aged friends speak of the dangers to which they 
were exposed. The following circumstance will 
tend to shew what our fathers had to encounter. 



COLLUMPTON. 



305 



In the parish of Uffcuhne, near Colhimpton, there 
was, at this time, a small meeting-house dedicated* 
to the worship of one God, the Father. It is thus 
noticed by Polwhele: ""Bridwell, in this parish, on 
which is a new mansion, is the pleasant seat of 
Richard Hall Clarke, Esq., who pulled down an 
old chapel (dedicated to St. Bridget or St. Bride, 
probably near some consecrated well called St. 
Bride's well,) and with the materials built a part of 
the present house ; and at a little distance, he has 
also erected a Presbyterian or Unitarian chapel for 
himself and family."* This period being, with re- 
gard to religious proceedings in this country, that of 
another reign of terror, it was more than usually 
necessary that those who were averse to all spiritual 
usurpation, and friendly to a simple, earnest, and 
scriptural mode of worship, should unite for mutual 
support and the diffusion of truth. Accordingly, 
several young men, still among the consistent mem- 
bers of our churches, having no minister at their 
own place of worship, at Honiton, went every Sun- 
day to the sequestered chapel at Bridwell. But so 
strong was the influence of ignorance and prejudice, 
that their steps were watched, their occasional calls 
on country friends misrepresented, and their praise- 
worthy efforts to excite a love of gospel truth stig- 

* The Bridwell chapel, which has now been abandoned some years, was 
opened in 1792 ; a sermon on "The Promise of Christ's Presence with his 
Disciples" was preached by Dr. Toulmin, and afterwards published. The 
occasion was rendered remarkable by the circums-tance, that the friends 
who assembled formed that useful institution — the Western Unitarian 
Society. 

X 



COLLUMPTON. 



matized as attempts to circulate sedition and infi- 
delity. 

This spirit hastened the decline of the congrega- 
tion at Collumpton. But a brighter time arrived^ 
— a time when, though prejudice remained awake, 
persecution was asleep ; and Mr. Morgan's succes- 
sor did not fail to avail himself of it. Mr. Davis 
had been at Collumpton some years without an 
opportunity of doing much to diffuse his principles. 
At length he employed his energies judiciously and 
successfully ; and it should be noted for the encou- 
ragement of others, (says a writer in the Monthly 
Repository,*) that, by unremitting endeavours, he 
lived to see the fruit of his labours. In 1823, he 
felt it his duty to attend in the vestry, on Wed- 
nesday evenings, to deliver lectures and to con- 
verse with any who might be sufficiently interested 
to hear what he had to advance in favour of his 
views of the gospel. For some time few came to 
be instructed ; but, with peculiar steadiness, he held 
on in what he thought the path of duty, and his 
hearers became numerous. His last lecture, de- 
lived a few days before his death, was considered 
particularly interesting, and his auditors had then 
increased fourfold. 

I have stated that the first meeting-house was 
built in 1695. In 1814 it was found to be so much 
decayed as to render further assembling in it danger- 
ous; the congregation, therefore, took it down and 
erected another on the same site.-)* This building, 

* Vol. XX. p. 52. t Mon. Repos., Vol. x. p. 721, 



COLLUMPTON. 



307 



which, though smaller, is more commodious, was 
opened for public worship on the 29th of October, 
in the same year. Discourses were preached on this 
occasion, in the morning and evening by Dr. Car- 
penter, and in the afternoon by Mr. Davis. A 
tribute of gratitude was paid to the Wesleyan 
Methodists, who permitted the Unitarians to use 
their chapel, once each Lord's day, for some months. 
Adjoining the chapel are two school-rooms, of still 
more modern date, used for the religious instruction 
of about sixty boys and girls. The congregation also 
support a library, a fellowship fund, and a brotherly 
society.* These institutions have lessened the evils 
of ignorance and poverty, and strengthened the union 
that subsists among the worshipers. In promoting 
the happiness and improvement of this interesting 
society — ^their pastor, Mr. Yeates, has been lately 
assisted by Mr. N. S. Heineken, who was educated 
at York, and settled some years at Sidmouth. 
The following inscriptions are in the chapel : 

Sacred to the memory of thr Rev. Samuel Morgan, 

WHOSE remains ARE INTERRED NEAR THIS SPOT, AND WHO, 
DURING 40 YEARS, WAS THE HIGHLY RESPECTED MINISTER OF 
THE CONGREGATION ASSEMBLING IN THIS PLACE. He DIED ON 

THE 15th September, 1794, in the 64th year of his age. 

* Communicated with much other information by the Rev. M. L. 
Yeates, who describes the brotberly society as a fund for the rehef of poor 
persons in sickness, supported by monthly contributions of two pence per 
month, from those who expect rehef, and other sums from those who do 
not. At the monthly meeting, each subscriber, is at liberty to recommend 
any case that he knows to need relief. The Treasurer is authorized to 
advance, in case of emergency, what he deems right in the interval. The 
society has been established fourteen years, and has always worked well. 

X 2 



308 



COLLUMPTON. 



And also of Elizabeth, his wife, 

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 4tll MaY, 1/83, AGED 38 YEARS. 

She WAS the youngest daughter of the learned and 

EXCELLENT Dr. BeNNET StEVENSON, FOR 37 YEARS MINISTER 
of a SOCIETY OF PrOTESTANT DiSSENTERS, AT BaTH. 

This tablet was erected in 1827, from a feeling of affec- 
tionate RESPECT TO THE MEMORY OF HER PARENTS, BY THE 
DAUGHTER OF SaMUEL AND ELIZABETH MoRGAN. 



Emma Catherine, 

THE beloved wife OF NICHOLAS SaMUEL HeINEKEN, 
AND ONLY SURVIVING CHILD OF THE ReV. MaTTHEW LeE YeATES, 

minister of this congregation, died nov. 12th, 1831, 
aged 24 years. 

This tablet, too perishable for the record of her virtues, 
is erected as a tribute of affection by her bereaved 

HUSBAND. 

"What is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth 

FOR A little time, AND THEN VANISHETH AWAY." 

On two stones in the yard adjoining the chapel: 

Here lieth the body of the Rev. Mr. Richard Evans, 
WHO departed THIS LIFE 22nd July, 1743, in the 72nd 

YEAR OF HIS AGE. He WAS PASTOR OF THIS CONGREGATION 
45 YEARS, "whose REJOICING WAS THIS, THE TESTIMONY OF A 
GOOD CONSCIENCE." 



Sacred to the memory of the Rev. John Davis, who de- 
parted THIS life Dec. 16th, 1824, aged 62. 

He was a native of Cardiganshire, and the faithful mi- 
nister OF this congregation during 28 YEARS. 

"Be thou faithful unto death, and i will give thee a 
crown of life." 



COLLUMPTON. 



309 



William Crompton, M. A 1662—1696. 

Richard Evans 1698—1743. 

Robert Glass 1745 — 1746. 

Thomas Chapman 1748 — 1751. 

Hook 1751 — 1754. 

Samuel Morgan 1754 — 1794. 

John Davis 1794—1824. 

Matthew Lee Yeates 1825. 

Nicholas Samuel Heineken 1830. 



The Rev. William Crompton was the son of a minister 
at Barnstaple. He was ejected from the living of Collumpton 
hy the Act of Uniformity. He continued with his people, and 
spent many years among them, but without the encouragement 
he deserved. For some time before his death, which occurred in 
1696, he wfis disabled by a painful disease from engaging in 
his beloved employment. The titles of his works indicate the 
subjects in which he felt peculiarly interested, as well as the 
general tastes of the Presbyterian congregations of that period. 
He published— :A Remedy against Superstition. — A Brief Sur- 
vey of the Old Religion. — Foundation of God for the Salvation 
of the Elect. — Sovereign Omnipotency, the Saint's Security. — 
A Treatise on Prayer ; on James v. 16.— A Wilderness of 
Trouble Leading to a Canaan of Comfort.* 



The Rev. Samuel Morgan was a native of Langam- 
gamarck, in Brecknockshire. His father was more than forty 



Noncon. Mem. 



310 



COLLUMPTON. 



years minister of the gospel at Lanurlyd. The subject of this 
memoir was born in 1731, and having received a classical edu- 
cation, entered the academy at Carmarthen in 1745. Here 
he was prepared, by the Rev. Evan Davies and the Rev. 
Samuel Thomas, for the ministerial office, on which he first 
entered at Dulverton. From this place he removed, in 1754, 
to Collumpton, where he spent the remainder of his life. 

Mr. Morgan was educated in Calvinistic principles, and pro- 
bably never doubted their truth till he read the controversy 
between Mr. Peirce and his opponents. The following sketch of 
his character appears in the Protestant Dissenters' Magazine : * 
— " His piety was fervent and imaffected, his integrity inflexible, 
and his morals irreproachable. The liberality of his mind rose 
superior to all party distinctions, and he embraced, as brethren, 
the whole rational creation of God. With fortitude and cheer- 
fulness he sustained a lingering and painful disorder ; and at 
last, with truly Christian dignity, he closed his eyes in peace in 
the sixty-fourth year of his age. He published ' A Common 
Prayer Book, according to the Plan of the Liturgy of the Church 
of England, with suitable services.' " 

The Rev. John Davis received the first part of his educa- 
tion in Carmarthenshire, under the learned Mr. David Davis. 
At the usual age he was sent to the academy at Carmarthen, 
then under the care of Rev. Robert Gentleman. Not being 
satisfied with his opportunities for improvement there, he soon 
afterwards entered at Daventry, where Mr. Belsham was the 
tutor. Although brought up in orthodoxy, he imbibed, in this 
seminary, the principles of Unitarianism ; but not from Mr. 
Belsham, who was then a Calvinist, and deeply lamented the 
results of Mr. Davis's inquiries. He bore testimony, however, 
to the very exemplary conduct of his pupil. 

On leaving Daventry, Mr. Davis settled in Cumberland, with 
a small and not very harmonious congregation. Here he 



* Vol. i. p. 4(53. 



COLLUMPTON. 



311 



remained some years, and discharged with much honour the 
duties of a minister and schoolmaster. So highly did one of 
his pupils esteem him, that up to the time of his death he deli- 
cately remitted him, twice a year, through a friend, a handsome 
donation, " lest his income should be too small for one in his 
delicate state of health." He probably removed from his first 
station to Collumpton without settling in any other place ; and 
here he spent the remainder of his days, possessing the respect 
and promoting the happiness of all to whom he was known. 

Mr. Davis's exertions in the cause of Christian truth have 
already been mentioned. These did not proceed from a secta- 
rian spirit but from a calm, yet strong, conviction of the im- 
portance of the conclusions at which he had arrived. If he 
was anxious to make proselytes, he uniformly asserted that 
sound morality was the end of true religion, and regarded all 
opinions without it as " little worth and vain." One of his 
friends has remarked, that " neither the fear of man nor any 
wish to please him ever induced him to do that of which he did 
not approve, — he had all the firmness of Knox, without one 
grain of his ferociousness." He was a man of sound learning and 
great application, but never became a popular preacher. In 
domestic life, he was easy to be accommodated, considerate of 
the accommodation of others ; quiet, peaceful, and courteous. 
The vigour of his mental powers and his increasing exertions 
to promote the welfare of his people, amidst the attacks of a 
disease which at length brought him suddenly to the grave, ex- 
emplified the Apostle's declaration " though the outward man 
faileth, the inner man is renewed day by day." 

Of the higher parts of his character some idea may be formed 
from the following lines, which appeared in his favourite publi- 
cation soon after his death. * 

* Mon. Rep., Vol. xx. p. 236. See also p. 116. The lines have since 
been republished by the author, the Rev. J. Johns, of Crediton, in an ele- 
gant volume entitled " Dews of Castalie." London. Hunter. 1828. 



312 



COLLUMPTON. 



There is many a harj) for tlie young man's doom. 
That is tuned to the notes of woe ; 

But alas ! they are mute o'er the old man's tomb. 
Though he lived like a saint below.. 

There is many a tear over beauty's grave, 
x\nd warm from the heart they rise -; 

Ah ! why less warm are the tears that lave 
The spot where the good man lies ? 

Is it nothing to keep the soul still yomig, 

When the frame where it dwells grows old ? 

Or less should a beautiful life be sung. 
Than the charms of an earthly mould ? 

No, old man, no, — one passmg lay. 

Though a power-less lay it be. 
Shall be given to the thought of the silent clsy, 

\A1iich is aU that is left of thee. 

Though thy life was passed in the humble shade. 
Yet it brightened the sliade aroTmd ; 

And ever\^ step that thy meek foot made. 
Was made upon holy ground. 

Thou hast seen thy friends around thee fall. 
Thou hast lived through years of pain ; — 

And now thou hast reached the goal of all. 
And broken a frail world's chain. 

Oh ! rest in peace till the day for which 
Thou hast looked with, a Christian's eye ! 

Faith, hope, and love, long have made thee rich 
In the gold of a purer sky. 

Though so soon forgot be thy lowly sod. 

Yet thou hast not lived in vain ; 
Por green above are the groves of God, 

WTiere the just shall meet again : 



HONITON 



"This tovvne claymes prioritie for antiquitie before many other. 
But for the name, yf I should say yt was taken from the abundance of 
honye there made or found, I persuade myself you would smyle ; and 
yet that may not be altogether sans reason, in regard of the hills ad- 
joyning, on which abundance of thyme or tyme growes, in which these 
pretye creatures are much delighted and feed most willingly theron." 
— ^Westcote. 

" This town is near three quarters of a mile in length, lying east 
and west ; and in the midst there is one other street towards the 
south. It is a very pretty town, indifferently well built, and sweetly 
seated both for corn and pasture. Its market is on Saturday, well 
replenished with all such things as the country affordeth for neces- 
saries ; more plentiful, indeed, in victuals and corn than most other 
markets in the county." — Sir W. Pole. 

" Honiton lies on the great western road from London to Exeter ; 
seven miles west of Axminster, and to the east of Exeter about sixteen 
miles. Situated in a delightful vale upon a rising ground, on the 
south side of the river Otter, it commands a fine view of the circum- 
jacent country. A little stream of transparent water flows through 
the town, with a dipping place at almost every door." — Polwhele. 

Population in 1811,-2735 ; in 1821,-3296 ; in 1831,-3509. 



BRIDGE Meeting-house. 



This house was bmlt by a Baptist society. 
There was a congregation of the same class in the 
town as far back as 1 655. George Fox, the Quaker, 
mentions his having some intercouse with it in 
that year. If it existed till the passing of the Act of 
Uniformity, it was probably united to the Presbyte- 
rian society which was formed here soon afterwards. 
In Crosby's History of the Baptists,* there is 
confession of the faith of several congregations of 
Christ in the county of Somerset, and some churches 
in the counties near adjacent; printed at London, 
Anno 1656." The brethren at Honiton had probably 
some concern in this document, which, it may be 
observed, although very copious, contains no decla- 
ration of belief in the doctrine of the Trinity, and 
in the present day would be generally considered 
as heterodox in other respects. 

The next notice of Dissent in this town occurs in 
connexion with the year 1662, Mr. Francis Sore- 
ton, the rector of the parish, being unable to comply 
with the terms of the Act, was ejected. This 
learned and excellent man preached in Honiton, 



* Ai)pcndix, Vol. i. p. 27. 



HONITON. 



315 



occasionally^ after his ejectment, countenanced and 
assisted by his fellow-sufferers, Mr. Hieron, of Feni- 
ton, and Mr. Saunders, of Kentisbeare. In the 
town and neighbourhood were many Noncon- 
formists, some of them gentlemen of note, but they 
could not provide themselves with a place of public 
worship till King James's Indulgence was issued. 
They then fitted up the back-house of William 
Clarke, a chandler, and were served by Mr. Saun- 
ders, Mr. Malachi Blake, and Mr. Goswell of 
Exeter, who continued for some time to preach 
alternately with much success.* 

The first stated minister of the Honiton Dissent- 
ers was Mr. John Edwards, a young man from 
Wellington. He was introduced on Mr. Goswell's 
discontinuing his attendance, and soon discovered 
an inclination to take the whole work upon himself, 
although Mr. Blake had been proposed as pastor. 
Mr. Edwards, being of a violent temper, soon 
destroyed that peace and harmony which had pre- 
viously subsisted; and notwithstanding a friendly 
admonition from the Exeter Assembly, to whom the 
society appealed, he still acted so improperly, that 
Mr. Clarke declared he should preach in his house 
no longer. There was consequently a division; 
some of the members remained in their old place, 
and were supplied by ministers from Exeter, Chard, 
and Taunton, while Edwards and his party retired 
to a wood-house, where they assembled till a new 
building, which they instantly commenced, was 

* English Presbyterian, p. 152. 



316 



HONITON. 



completed. Things were in this situation a con- 
siderable time ; at length, the conduct of Edwards 
becoming scandalously immoral, his party forsook 
him. He conformed to the Church of England, 
and preached at Northleigh, a small village about 
four miles from Honiton. * 

In the year 1705, the two parties Vv^ere united 
under Mr. John Ball, whose zeal, learning, and 
orthodoxy, made him one of the most celebrated 
divines in the West. He died in 1745, in the 
ninety-first year of his age, and was succeeded by 
Mr. John Rutter, of South Petherton, who was the 
settled minister till his own death, which took place 
in 1769. Mr. George Heath, then finishing his 
studies at Exeter, accepted an invitation to settle at 
Honiton in the following year ; but he also soon 
lost many of his hearers, and ultimately his situa?^ 
tion, by bad conduct. Another division ensued, 
which was probably hastened by differences on 
points of faith ; one party inheriting the rigid Cal- 
vinism preached by Mr. Ball, the other shewing 
themselves favourable to those brighter views which 
were then becoming prevalent. The Calvinistic 
party seceded in 1771 ; at first they met in a licensed 
room ; two years afterwards they began to build a 
place of worship, which gradually acquired, and is 
now known by, the name of Independent. About 
the same time, Mr. Stevens, of Great Marlow, 
became their minister. The other members of the 
original Presbyterian congregation remained in 

* English Presbyterian. 



HONITON. 



31f 



their meeting-house, and enjoyed the services of Mr. 
W. Lamport till 1788. The building being old and 
dilapidated, was soon afterwards taken down by the 
consent of the only surviving Trustee, and many of 
the worshipers united themselves to the Baptist 
society, with whom they had long agreed on the 
highest points of Christian faith. 

Of this society it is my chief object to give some 
account. In the year 1715, Mr. Jerom Maynard, 
manufacturer of serges, removed from Axminster 
to Honiton. He was a zealous Baptist, possessing 
Arian, if not Unitarian, views of the Gospel, and 
had for several years preached every Sunday to a 
Baptist society in the neighbouring parish of Dal- 
wood. At the time of his removal, the number of 
persons in Honiton whose religious views coincided 
with his own did not exceed two or three, besides 
the members of his own family. These he brought 
together about the year 1721, when he ceased 
preaching at Dalwood. He invited the men and 
women employed in his work-shops to attend a reli- 
gious service in his own house, and employed other 
means to increase the number of worshipers. His 
labours, temporal as well as spiritual, were so suc- 
cessful, that, in the year 1736, he determined on 
building a place of worship. To this object his 
thoughts had long been directed; and the people 
with whom he was connected, anxious to do all in 
their power to promote it, circulated the following 
appeal. I shall copy it from the original MS., as a 
specimen of the style and spirit of the founders of 
this church. 



318 



HONITON. 



To all Christian and well-disposed persons, more especially 
to our brethren of the Baptized Churches to whom these presents 
may come : the humble petition and case of the Baptized Church 
at Honiton, in Devon, under the pastoral care of Mr. Jerom 
Majnard. 

Beloved in our Lord, 
After Christian salutation, we beg- leave to inform jou that the 
God of all grace, the Father of mercies, and the giver of every 
good and perfect gift, was pleased to stir up and excite our 
now worthy and beloved Pastor or Elder, some years since, 
(he being providentially brought to reside here,) to set up his 
worship (having no place where he believed the Gospel was 
preached in its primitive purity, near enough for himself and 
his family to attend) in his own dwelling house: in order to 
promote the Divine honour, and to instruct those of his own 
household and neighbourhood into the knowledge of the Gospel, 
and the Truth as it is in Jesus, as through grace it appeared to 
him, and this good and laudable undertaking has been constantly 
and we hope faithfully continued, and we trust has met with 
the blessing, countenance, and approbation of the Most High, to 
the great Joy and Consolation of our and others' souls, so that 
now, through divine goodness and mercy, we have a name and 
a place in the house of God and the Church of Jesus Christ, 
and as such we trust some have been added to us according to 
the order of the Gospel, who shall be saved in the day of the 
Lord, tho' we are of opinion that our spiritual increase has 
greatly been retarded for want of a convenient and separate 
place to assemble together in, the which therefore we for some 
time past have been and are now very desirous of obtaining. And 
as it has pleased Almighty God, under this his pious undertaking 
to bless our worthy Pastor aforesaid with some considerable 
increase in his worldly substance, altho' he preached constantly 
to us gratis, he has proposed to be very liberal in giving the 
Church the ground and a considerable sum towards erecting a 
house for God's worship : and when he dies, unless misfortunes 



HONITON. 



319 



attend him, he proposes to leave something considerable for the 
support of the cause of Christ and the Truths of the Gospel 
in this place. Now we, the members of this little Christian 
Society, and those that attend amongst us as hearers, are in the 
general but Low in our worldly circumstances ; but we that have 
been buried with Christ in Baptism humbly hope we have some 
blessed stock in Faith and a treasure in the Heavens ; however, 
our present poverty renders us entirely incapable (contrary to 
our sincere desire) of enabling our Pastor to perform his pious 
intention of building a house for God's worship : but we are all 
willing to do our utmost, yea rather beyond than under our 
abihties, for the promoting so good, so desirable and so neces- 
sary a work, and for as much as the utmost we can do will fall 
very short of answering the end, it being proposed to build the 
house with brick, to cover it with tile, and to expend about 
£'150, which sum as aforesaid we are utterly incapable to raise, 
and therefore we are obliged and humbly make bold to petition 
you, our brethren and Christian friends, that you w«^ help and 
assist us, as we have and shall always be willing to do for others 
in the same or like case ; by your charitable contributions for 
the completing this, we hope commendable design, and whoso- 
ever does so lend to the Lord and cast their temporal bread 
upon the waters, we trust our God will repay them a hundred- 
fold in this world, and that in that to come they may find and 
share in eternal bliss and glory. We desire that what you are 
pleased to contribute to our assistance and we hope to God's 
Honour, you'll pay to our beloved brother Mr. John Sturch, or 
to our Pastor aforesaid, the which will lay us under lasting 
obligations to pray for yom* temporal and eternal felicity. 

This document was signed by six members and 
five hearers. A Postscript was added^ recording "the 
baptism of two hopeful young men." About ^60. 
was collected at Taunton^ Exeter, Crediton, Moreton- 
Hampstead, and Honiton. The remainder of the 



320 



HONITON. 



expense appears to have been defrayed fey Mr. 
Maynard himself. In 1737 the house was opened, 
having been duly licensed for the said Mr. May- 
nard and others to perform there." The interior 
was fitted up to seat two hundred people. The 
zealous founder officiated himself as often as his 
strength would permit ; but being advanced in life 
when the meeting-house was opened, he often re- 
quired assistance. At that time the Presbyterian 
congregation at Shaugh in Luppit, about three 
miles from Honiton, was supplied chiefly by students 
from Mr. Amory's Academy, and they frequently 
officiated for Mr. Maynard.* Before his death/ 
the congregation, being able to engage a settled 
minister, chose a Mr. Sprague, who remained 
till 1753; the time of his settlement is uncertain. 
He w^as succeeded by Mr. Wheeler, who left for 
America at the end of four years. Mr. Maynard 
then officiated for some time, though past his 
eightieth year, to the edification of a united and 
respectable congregation. The next supplies were 
Mr. Adams and Mr. Francis Webb, of whom dis- 
tinct accounts will be given. It was during the 
ministry of Mr. Adams that the Presbyterian congre- 
gation divided; afterwards he frequently preached,-^^ 

■ 

* The Luppit congregation has been many years extinct. The follow- 
ing list of its ministers appears in the appendix to a Discourse by Mr. 
Manning, of Exeter, delivered before the Annual Assembly, 1818. 

Thomas Collier, Nicholas Martix, ^-^ 

Thomas Holwell, J. Lavington, ^ ^ 

Robert Wood, Nicholas Martin, ^ 1 

William West, Dr. Harris. £| 

Dr. Harris was the author of the Li\'cs of the Stuarts. 



HONITON. 



321 



in conjunction with Mr. Lamport, in the old place 
of worship. Mr. Webb's stay was short ; that his 
services were successful is implied by the fact, 
that one member of his church who was engaged 
in a prosperous business — the Honiton Lace Manu- 
factory — offered him one hundred pounds a year if 
he would remain at Honiton. 

Mr, Webb left about the year 1780. From that 
time till 1787 the meeting-house was seldom opened, 
the society being able to worship with the Presby- 
terians. But on the death of Mr. Lamport they 
were desirous of having a pastor of their own, and 
accordingly applied to Dr. Caleb Evans, of the 
Bristol Academy. That gentleman recommended 
Mr. Stephen Freeman, who had nearly finished his 
studies, and was immediately chosen. Although 
educated in a Calvinistic academy, Mr. Freeman 
partook of the spirit of inquiry which prevailed 
among the students, and, before he left, became a , 
decided Unitarian. This circumstance was satis- > 
factory to the church; they had always confined 
their worship to One God — the Father — and were 
fully prepared to be led into what they now regard 
as "all truth." The services of Mr. Freeman were so 
acceptable, that the meeting-house was soon found 
too small. This may be partly attributed to the 
dissolution of the old Presbyterian society, many of 
whom, having imbibed new opinions under Mr. 
Lamport, became worshipers with the Baptists. 
There was, at that time, a large ladies' school at 
Honiton, consisting of members of the most respect- 

Y 



322 



HONITON. 



able Dissenting families in the West ; and these^ to 
the number of seventy, attended Mr. Freeman's 
services. The people^ thus encouraged, formed a 
plan of enlarging the building, which v^as promoted 
by Mr. John Maynard, v^ho, inheriting his uncle's 
spirit as well as property, conveyed to the Trustees 
a piece of ground for the erection of an additional 
aisle and row of pews. They then made an appli- 
cation for the requisite funds, which proved partly 
successful; but owing to the resignation of Mr. 
Freeman, when he had been settled at Honiton 
three years,* and other unavoidable circumstances, 
the plan was not carried into execution till 1794. 
It was then deemed advisable to take down the 
whole of the house, but to leave the greater part of 
the foundations and to erect a new one, with a gal- 
lery, on the same spot. The expense amounted to 
£331. Of this sum £231 was subscribed by the 
congregation and their friends at a distance. The 
committee waited twelve months, and, seeing no 
prospect of additional assistance, paid the debt and 
the interest in equal shares. 

On the resignation of Mr. Freeman, the congre- 
gation were supplied by ministers from a distance. 
In 1793 Mr. John Hughes became the pastor. In 
September 1794, he opened the present building. 
This gentleman was a Paedo-baptist — a circumstance 
regarded, when he was chosen, as comparatively 
unimportant. Two persons, who still survive, were 

* Soon after Mr. Freeman's removal he opened a school at Enfield, 
where he still resides. 



HONITON. 



323 



baptized during the ministry of Mr. Freeman. The 
congregation has been in much the same state, with 
regard to numbers, for many years. It has not 
flourished, but it has been united, and neither defi- 
cient in zeal nor unadorned by examples of moral 
and religious worth. Several young persons — de- 
scendants of those who founded and others who 
well supported the society — are growing up, it is 
hoped, to imbibe the spirit and tread in the steps of 
their fathers. 

The meeting-house is situated near the bridge, at 
the entrance to the town from Exeter. It stands at 
some distance from the street, and the approach to 
it is under a large gateway. There is nothing at- 
tractive in its appearance ; over the door is the date 
1737; within the walls are a vestry, with a library, 
and a baptistery, supplied from the neighbouring 
river. Among the books are Fox's Book of Martyrs 
and Crosby's History of the Baptists, bequeathed 
by Mr. Maynard ; and several valuable historical 
works of a more modern date, by Mr. Cornish, of 
Colyton.* 

* The materials for this account were chiefly furnished by one to whose 
efforts on behalf of the congregation I would fain pay a more than common 
tribute of gratitude — I allude to my father, Mr. William Murch, who, with 
my grandfather, Mr. Jerom Murch, was a member of the committee for 
rebuilding the house. 



324 



HONITON. 



Jerom Maynard 1721 — 1762. 

Sprague — 1753. 

Wheeler 1753 — 1757. 

Francis Webb 1757 — 1758, 

Philip Adams 1758 — 1780. 

Stephen Freeman 1787 — 1790. 

John Hughes 1793—1831. 

James Taplin 1831. 



Mr. Jerom Maynard was bom at Corfe Castle, Dorset- 
shire, in 1677. His father served in the army of Oliver 
Cromwell dm*ing the civil war, and was taken prisoner bj the 
Royalists. This circumstance is noticed in the pulpit Bible in 
the Bridge Meeting, which originally belonged to the brave 
republican. The subject of this memoir was apprenticed, while 
his father was in prison, to a serge-maker, at Moreton-Hamp- 
stead. During his apprenticeship he became a member of a 
General Baptist congregation, and occasionally engaged in a 
religious conference. His first settlement was at Axminster, 
where he carried on his business, and whence he went every 
Sunday to preach to a small congregation at Dalwood, a village 
a few miles distant. It is impossible to avoid admiring the 
piety, benevolence, and perseverance, which he manifested after 
his removal to Honiton, in collecting a people with whom he 
could worship " in spirit and in truth." He continued to preach 
occasionally until within a short time of his death, which took 
place in 1762, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. 

Mr. Philip Adams was also what is commonly termed a 
lay preacher. He had a farm in the neighbourhood of Taunton, 
on which he resided. But his mind, far from being wholly 



HONITON. 



325 



devoted to the earth, was well stored with knowledge, and his 
chief desire was to do good. He is said to have been remark- 
able for a plain, apostolic appearance, and a refined, impressive 
style of preaching. The greater part of hiB time and attention, 
as a minister, was devoted to a society of Baptists at Wedmore, 
in Somersetshire, with which he was connected some years. 
His visits to Honiton were monthly ; he preached to Mr. May- 
nard's people one part of the day, and to the old Presbyterian 
congregation the other. It is not known how long these engage- 
ments lasted, or what was the cause of their being discontinued. 
The Rev. Dr. Toulmin, of Taunton, who took a warm interest 
in the welfare of the Honiton congregation, was for several 
years one of Mr. Adams's most intimate friends. Their minds 
were formed in the same mould : their hearts were fixed on the 
same objects, Mr. Adams was interred in the burial-ground 
belonging to the Baptist chapel, Mary Street, Taunton. Dr. 
Toulmin conducted the funeral service, and several members of 
the Honiton congregation attended to testify their gratitude for 
the pious labours and amiable example of their minister. 



The Rev. Francis Webb. — The ancestors and immediate 
connexions of this gentleman were highly respectable. His 
father lived at Taunton, where he himself was born in 1735. 
Two of his cousins, Robert and Nathaniel Webb, were succes- 
sively Members of Parliament for that borough. One of his 
paternal uncles was collector of the customs at Montserrat, and 
the other, Attorney- General of Antigua. His eldest brother 
lived at the Island of St. Christopher, was one of the assistant 
Judges, and a member of the Assembly at Montserrat. 

Francis Webb received his classical education at Abingdon 
and Bristol. He afterwards became a pupil, first of Dr. Dod- 
dridge, then of Dr. Ashworth, at Daventry, and lastly of Dr. 
Amory, at Taunton. His first settlement as a Dissenting mi- 
nister was at Honiton, where he was highly esteemed. After a 
short time he was induced to become the pastor of the General 



326 



HONITON. 



Baptist cliurch meeting in Paul's Alley, Loudon;, where he was 
ordained in 1758.* In these situations he remained about ten 
years. He then relinquished the ministerial office, and under- 
took a civil employment at Graveseud. The reasons which led 
him to take this step are not fully known, but they did not 
consist in dislike to the duties of the ministry, or in any inca- 
pacity for it. His published sermons afford ample proof that 
his preaching was eminently sound, polished, impressive, and 
animating ; they testify that he had superior intellectual powers, 
and a deep sense of the value of religion. 

In 1777 Mr. Webb removed from Gravesend into Dorset- 
shire. Here, at the house of a friend, he met the Duke of 
Leeds, then Secretary of State, who immediately sought his 
society. This amiable nobleman frequently availed himself of 
Mr. Webb's assistance, and their intimacy continued until the 
death of his Grace. In 1786 he went to Hesse Cassel, with 
Sir Isaac Heard, who was deputed to convey the ensign of the 
Order of the Garter to the Landgrave of Hesse. The Latin 
oration delivered at the investiture was the production of Mr. 
Webb's pen. Fifteen years afterwards we find him going to 
Paris, in the office of secretary to Mr. Jackson, who had been 
appointed the resident minister at that capital, during the nego- 
ciation of the treaty of peace at Amiens. In consequence of 
bad health, Mr. Webb's stay did not exceed two months ; but 
he remained long enough to have frequent intercourse with many 
persons connected with the French government, and to be 
highly regarded for his frank disposition and great abilities. 

During the last thirty years of his life he lived in various 
places. His abode was, successively, in the neighbourhood of 
Crewkerne ; at Brasted, in Kent ; Lower Lytchett, near Poole ; 
Norton - sub - Hampden, near South Petherton; Lufton, near 
Yeovil ; and Barrington, near Ilmiuster. Amidst all these 
changes, some of which arose from necessity rather than choice, 
Mr. Webb devoted much of his attention to elegant and im- 



* Wilson's History, iii. 259. 



HONITON. 



327 



proving literary pursuits. * " In politics he was a decided 
Whig; in religion an Unitarian Dissenter. On all subjects of 
human inquiry, but particularly on the most important, he was 
accustomed to think freely. He was a man of delicate moral 
taste and strong feelings, which led him to perceive clearly and 
to expose forcibly the deformity and baseness of vice, in whom- 
soever found. A mean, cringing, time-serving disposition his 
soul utterly abhorred ; while he could not refrain from expressing 
in terms of rapture his approbation of noble, generous, and dis- 
interested actions." 

Mr. Webb was strongly attached to Lufton, — a delightful 
retreat in nnison with his refined taste and ardent love of nature. 
But his dwelling was the parsonage-house ; and on being obliged 
to quit it, he removed to Barrington, which proved the last stage 
in his mortal journey. He died August 2nd, 1815, in the 
eightieth year of his age, leaving a widow, the daughter of 
William Milner, of Poole, Esq., who published the last edition 
of his sermons. He was interred in the parish church of Bar- 
rington, near a plain, marble tablet, thus inscribed by his own 
desire : 

Francis Webb, 
the friend of mankind, 
and a friend to their sacred rights and liberties, 
both civil and religious : 
Born at Taunton, 18th September, 1735; 
Died at Barrington, 2nd August, 1815. 

* See memoh' prefixed to the last edition of Mr. Webb's sermons. The 
following list of his works is there given. 1. " Sermons" — 4 vols. 12mo., 
(now republished in 1 vol. 8vo.) 1766, 2. "Marmor Norfolciense:" a Satire, 
written when Dr. Johnson accepted a pension and became a govern- 
ment writer. 3. " Letter to John Sawbridge, Esq., on Popular Opposition 
to Government." 4. "Thoughts on the Constitutional Right and Power 
of the Crown in the bestowal of Places and Pensions;" 8vo. 1772. 5. 
" An Epistle to Lord George Germaine." 6. " Friendship," a Poem : 
"Justice," a Poem. 7. " An Epistle to the Rev. Mr. Kell," and an " Ode 
to Fortitude." 8. "Poems on Wisdom, on the Deity, and on Genius." 
0. " The Diary" — " A Series of Letters on the dispute with Spain respect- 
ing Nootka Sound." 10. A "Hymn to the Dryads." 11. An "Ode to 



328 



HONITON. 



08 

The Rev. John Hughes was descended from one of the 
oldest families in the Principalitj. He was the eldest son of 
the A^enerable Da\'id Hughes, of Wincanton, who, at his ordina- 
tion, in 1760, steadily refused to subscribe articles which he 
could not understand. His remote ancestors were also noted for 
their unflinching adherence to the principles of ciyH and reli- 
gious Hbertj, for their severe sufferings and noble sacrifices.* 
Nor was he unworthy his descent. Although anxious to live 
"peaceably with all men," he never sacrificed his mental inde- 
pendence ; and through the whole of his life he encouraged 
others to exercise the " liberty wherewith Christ had made them 
free." 

At the proper age he became a student at the Hoxton Aca- 
demy. His first settlement was at Tewkesbury, where he 
enjoyed the society and friendship of the widow and family of 
Dr. Doddridge. Wishing to be near his brother, the Rev. W. 
Hughes, then of Sidmouth, now of the Isle of \yight, he ac- 
cepted an invitation from Honiton. Here he spent thirty-eight 
years, "happy in his connexion with a people after his own 
heart, of inquiring minds and catholic spirit." And yet he 
was by no means a stranger to grief. He witnessed man}- mis- 
fortunes, which he did all in his power to alleviate. About 
fourteen years before his death he lost his excellent wife, a niece 
of Dr. Harris, the minister at Luppit. And at a much more 
recent period, when his frame had been weakened by disease, 
he received a severe shock in the death of his most valued friend 
and hearer INlr. Isaac Cox, — a man whose memory is venerated 
as that of one of the brightest ornaments of human nature. But 
in reference to both events he could say, what he did in 
reference to the first, " Many a time has it been mine to exhort 

the Rural Nymphs 4to. 12. " Somerset, a Poem 4to. 1811. 13. "A 
Memoir of Giles Hussey, the Artist, communicated to the editor of the 
History of Dorsetshire." 14. " Panharmonicon an attempt to prove 
that the principles of Harmony more or less prevail throughout Natuie. 
4to. 1814. 

* Mon. Rrpos., X. S., Vol. v. p. 718 ; Obituary uf Mr. Hughes. 



HONITON. 



329 



Others to bow to tlieir heavenly Father's behests ; shall / not also 
bow and evmce that I believe what I teach ? The Lord hath 
given, the Lord hath taken awaj^, blessed be the name of the 
Lord"! 

Mr. Hughes, as a preacher, was not popular; jet those who 
knew and valued him could profit by his services. It was by 
his example that he taught most effectually ; his patience under 
severe suffering, his ready, unostentatious charity, and his 
truly devotional spiiit, made a deep impression. He died July 
19th, 183L His little flock followed him to the grave, thankful 
for the light he had been permitted to shed on their path, and 
hoping to meet him " when this corruptible shall have put on 
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality ! 



COL YTON 



" The town itself of CoUington is no very notable thing."— Le land. 

" A market town of the hundred of that name in Devonshire, one 
hundred and fifty-one miles from London, and situated on the river 
Coll, at its junction with the Axe. The trade formerly carried on in 
serges is nearly lost." — Encyclopedia Britannica. 

" Though a small town, it is most delightfully situated within three 
miles of the British Channel, fine views of which present themselves 
at very short distances, as also the devious courses of two beautiful 
rivers, the little Coly and the larger Ax, through rich meadows and 
between rising hills, shaded with trees which present innumerable 
objects to charm the eye and elevate the heart." — Cornish. 
Population in 1811,— 1774; in 1821,— 1945 j in 1831,-2182. 



OLD MEETING-HOUSE, 

The town of Colyton was favoured with pastors, 
who were friendly to religious freedom^ many years 
before the passing of the Act of Uniformity. About 
the year 1640 the celebrated Dr. Manton^ after- 
wards one of the chaplains to Oliver Cromwell, 
entered upon his ministerial labours in this parish.* 
In 1654, Mr. John Wilkins was presented to the 
living ; he continued to be the incumbent till Bar- 
tholomew Day, 1662. For some time after his eject- 
ment, he preached in his own house; but subse- 
quently died of a consumption, leaving his flock to 
be served by his fellow-sufferers in the district. •]• 
Of these, the nearest to Colyton, were Mr. Gill, 
of Shute ; Mr. Ashwood, of Axminster ; Mr. Tarrant, 

* Life of Manton, P. D. M. Vol. iii. p. 241. 

t Mr. Wilkins died in 1667. He was a man of eminent piety, remark- 
ably affectionate, and an excellent preacher. He was interred in the 
Vicar's vestry, in the large and handsome parish church at Colyton. Part 
of the inscription cannot be deciphered, but the date is visible, as are a 
few other particulars, and the following lines : — 

" Such Pillars layed aside, 

How can the Church abide ? 

He left his Pulpit hee 

In Patmos God to see. 

This shining light can have 

No place to preach but's grave." 



COLYTON. 



333 



of Musbury; Mr. Short and Mr. Kerridge, of 
Lyme ; Mr. Godwine^ of Uplyme ; and Mr. Soreton, 
of Honiton. 

The first Nonconformists at Colyton met with 
great hardships. They commenced by assembling 
in each other's houses, but were at length obliged 
to conduct their devotions in an adjoining wood. 
Their first place of public worship in the town was 
opened soon after the Eevolution ; it was a dwelling- 
house, and though mean and inconvenient was well 
attended. There is reason to suppose that Mr. 
Gilb the ejected minister at Shute, — a parish con- 
nected with Colyton, privately served the congrega- 
tion from the death of Mr. Wilkins, in 1667^ till 
his own, in 1688. About the latter period, they 
engaged Mr. Kerridge, who had been a schoolmaster 
at Lyme, and was ejected from that office for his 
Nonconformity ; he was a sufferer in various ways ; 
at the time of the Rye-House Plot the county troop, 
in consequence of some groundless suspicions, were 
ordered to proceed to Lyme and seize both himself 
and his excellent colleague, — Mr. Short. 

Between the Dissenters of Lyme and Colyton 
there was frequent communication. One of Mr. 
Short's sons assisted Mr. Kerridge in his ministerial 
duties at Colyton, and educated young men for the 
ministry. There was also an interchange of politi- 
cal feeling among the inhabitants of these neigh- 
bouring towns, which brought them into still 
greater trouble. Mr. Short, Sen., was so deeply 
implicated in Monmouth's rebellion, that he was 



334 



COLYTON. 



sent from Lyme to be cast into a dungeon at Ports- 
mouth. And several of the people at Colyton^ ani- 
mated by the general desire to free themselves from 
the tyranny of a popish king, no sooner heard that 
the duke was landed than they flocked to his 
standard. For this offence four of them suffered 
death ; they were executed as traitors near the market 
place^ and died with great piety, resolution, and 
constancy. One of them being asked if it did not 
grieve him to think how his body would be mangled 
and his quarters exposed in the highways, answered 
with the calm consciousness that he had done his 
duty, — ''It matters little, the resurrection will res- 
tore all with advantage."* 

. Mr. Kerridge died in 1705, and was succeeded 
by Mr. Rosewell. This minister was ordained in 
1690, and was probably connected with some con- 
gregation before he came to Colyton. At the time 
of his election the society was numerous, and for 
many years there was an additional minister at 
Colyton, who occasionally visited the infant churches 
in the neighbourhood. But soon after Mr. Rose- 
well commenced his ministry here, he had no regu- 
lar assistant; the congregation urged him to have 
one ; he refused, and there was a division ; to those 
members of the congregation who adhered to him 
he preached in another house. On Mr. Rosewells 
death some of his hearers became Baptists, but this 
society was soon dissolved. Meanwhile the original 
congregation had the services of Mr. Samuel Short, 

* English Presbyterian. 



COLYTON. 



335 



as pastor, and Mr. Matthew Towgood, as assistant. 
Mr. Short probably came to Colyton in 1707^ and 
removed in 1714; Mr. Towgood kept an academy 
here, and left for Shepton Mallet, in 1716. 

The minister who succeeded Mr. Short in the 
pastoral office was Mr. William Youatt. He was 
ordained in 1715, and was then at Colyton w^ith 
two hundred hearers. For many years, he had as 
his colleague Mr. Eobert Batten, who, in conjunc- 
tion with Mr. Youatt, often preached at Sidmouth. 
In 1737, Mr. Batten left for Ottery St. Mary; and 
the senior minister took the whole charge of the 
society, which he retained till he was disabled by 
the palsy. Then came Mr. Samuel Slater. He 
was an Arian, if not an Unitarian : of the opinions 
of his predecessors, we have no information. The 
congregation included a few opulent persons, but 
consisted chiefly of tradesmen and farmers. During 
the first half of the last century, the salary of the 
pastor did not exceed £30, per annum; this, how- 
ever, was then deemed a good sum even for the 
support of a family. 

It was soon after Mr. Slater was chosen that 
the present meeting-house was built. The expense 
of the erection was defrayed almost entirely by the 
society. Dr. Toulmin succeeded Mr. Slater, like 
whom, he was much beloved ; his preaching was 
plain, yet striking, and the congregation increased. 
When he had been at Colyton four years, he saw 
reason to change his sentiments respecting Baptism, 



336 



COLYTON. 



which occasioned his removal to Taunton. The 
society then chose Mr. Anstis who, however, soon 
removed to Bridport, being desired by the corpora- 
tion of that town to undertake a school there. In 
1772, the congregation having been destitute four 
years, Mr. Cornish accepted their invitation, and 
continued here fifty years. His sermons were 
sound, he was beloved by his friends and highly 
respected as a writer, a classical scholar and an 
instructor of youth. Living in a house adjoining 
the chapel, he used the gallery as a school-room, 
and there educated many members of influential 
families both in the Church of England and among 
Dissenters. Yet his ministry was not popular ; so 
great had been the diminution of his flock, in 1814, 
that a proposal was made to him by four " orthodox" 
ministers in the district, to give up his chapel to a 
Calvinistic minister. To this proposal Mr. Cornish 
gave a decided negative, adding that in early life 
he was impressed with a remark in a charge of 
good Mr. Lavington's," — ' Should the number of 
your hearers lessen, do not be discouraged so as to 
grow remiss in your endeavours ; remember, Jesus 
Christ preached an excellent sermon to one wo- 
man.'" 

The following extract from Mr. Cornish's sketch 
of his own life* illustrates the customs and re- 
sources of country congregations at the close of the 
last century. 

* Mon. Rep., Vol. xviii. ji. 619. 



COLYTON. 



337 



'^^J. Cornish, boarded eleven years in the family of Mr. 81ade, 
a steady friend to the Dissenting cause, whose house was for 
years the chief resort of various ministers visiting the town. J. 
Cornish's income fell rather short of £40. per annum, though 
besides some endowments, his hearers subscribed as much as he 
desired. For a few years it somewhat exceeded £50., but fell 
back to £40. again. No minister, unless possessing other 
means of support, could now subsist on such a salary with tole- 
rable decency : but before the American and other expensive 
wars Britain has since engaged in, a good manager would make 
it suffice. Goldsmith uses a poetical license when he describes, 
a pastor as ' passing rich with forty pounds a year,' and con-" 
triving to display generous hospitality. A single man, however,* 
with that income could, even so lately as .1772, make a decent 
appearance and be able to spare something for charitable pur-> 
poses. There was hardly any Dissenting congregation without^' 
some one or more families ready to board a minister, not desir- 
ing to gain, aiming only at a fair recompence. Many ministers, 
at that time, in the West of England, were boarded by respect-' 
able persons for less than £20. per annum ; and in good farm^^ 
houses, a much smaller sum was accepted for being found every) 
thing like other members of the family. A gratis horse was- 
frequently at the service of ministers, and both horse and rider 
kindly received, on making exchanges and visits, by some hos- 
pitable hearers." 

Since the death of Mr. Cornish, the congregation 
have often been without a pastor. During such 
intervals, the services v^ere frequently conducted 
by serious and intelligent members of the flock. 
They are at present supplied by Mr. Taplin, of 
Honiton, v^ho preaches in that town every Lord's 
Day morning and evening, and regularly visits 
Colyton in the afternoon. His hearers are not nu- 
merous, but there is reason to believe that his 

z 



338 



COLYTON. 



labours to keep alive that love of religious truth and 
that desire for Christian excellence for which this 
ancient church has been so long noted — will not be 
in vain. 

The following inscription has been copied from a 
neat marble tablet in the meeting-house : — 

M. S. 

OF THE 

Rev. Joseph Cornish, 
BORN AT Taunton, 
Dec. 16th, 1750; 
fixed in the ministry at colyton, 
July, 17/2 ; 
DIED October 9tli, 1823 ; 
" Humbly looking for the salvation of God 

THROUGH the LoRD JeSUS ChRIST." 



John Wilkins 1662—1667. 

John Gill 1667—1688. 

John Kerridge, M.A.* 1689—1705. 

John Rosewell 1705 — 1707. 

Samuel Short 1707 — 1714. 

William Youatt 1715 — 1745. 

Samuel Slater 1745 — 1761. 

Joshua Toulmin, LL.D 1761 — 1765. 

Matthew Anstis 1766 — 1768. 

Joseph Cornish 1772—1823. 

George Skey 1824—1826. 

G.F.Matthew 1826—1829. 

John Smith 1830— J 832. 

James Taplin 1834. 



* I omit the names of the assistants in consequence of the uncertainty 
connected with the requisite particulars. 



COLYTON. 



339 



Matthew Anstis was born at St. Germains, in the year 
1740. His situation prevented him from having the benefit of a 
classical education at the usual early period. When he was about 
seventeen, he entered upon a course of study with the Rev. T. 
Morgan, of Liskeard, preparatory to his going to Carmarthen, 
about the year 1761. Before he went to Colyton, he preached 
a short time in the meeting-house at Falmouth ; but as his re- 
ligious sentiments, which he took no pains to conceal, differed 
from those of the majority of the congregation, he soon removed. 
Neither did he remain long at Colyton ; in addition to his invi- 
tation to become the master of a school at Bridport, he received 
and accepted another from a small congregation in the neighbour- 
hood. The latter office he relinquished in the course of a few 
years, and devoted his attention entirely to the education of 
youth. In this capacity he gained the gratitude of many who 
were always ready to bear witness to his ability and faithfulness. 
He officiated occasionally as a minister after he gave up the 
stated charge of a flock ; and we find him supplying at Colyton 
for three months, in 1781, during the absence of Mr. Cornish. 
The interest he continued to cherish in theological questions, 
and in the progress of Christian truth and righteousness, is well 
known to the readers of the Old Series of the Monthly Repository, 
to which he contributed numerous papers.* In early life, Mr. 
Anstis adopted the Humanitarian system ; and he avowed his 
adoption of it at a time when the great majority of the worship- 
ers of one God in one Person, in the West of England, still held 
Arian opinions concerning the person of Christ. The fruits of 
his faith were visible, more particularly, in his lively anxiety for 
the welfare of the human race, in his liberal, and sometimes 
profuse, pecuniary contributions to works of charity, and in the 
earnestness with which he cultivated the conviction, amidst 
mental infirmities, bodily sufferings, and the prospect of death, 
" that all things are from God and for good to alL" 

* For references to these and a sketch of the life of Mr. Anstis, see Mon. 
Repos,, Vol. xviii. p. 731. 

z 2 



340 



COLYTON 



Mr. Cornish. — Few Dissenting ministers who have lived 
in retired situations are had in more respectful remembrance 
than Mr. Cornish. The number of years he remained with his 
flock, the literary efforts he made on behalf of religious liberty, 
and his learning, benevolence, and piety, gained him general 
esteem .* 

He was born at Taunton in 1750. In very early life he dis- 
covered an inclination to the ministry. The former part of his 
education was conducted successively by Mr. Patch, a clergy- 
man, Mr. Glass, from Westminster school, and Dr. Toulmin. 
Tn 1767, he went to Hoxton and spent five years under the 
guidance of Dr. Savage, Dr. Kippis, and Dr. Rees. The vene- 
rable Mr. Holden, of Tenterden, was his class-fellow and passed 
his examination at the same time with him. It is remarkable 
that these gentlemen not only corresponded with the most cor- 
dial friendship, but remained in the same situations during the 
remainder of their lives. 

While Mr. Cornish was at Hoxton, he occasionally supplied 
at Epsom, from which place, as well as from Colyton, he re- 
received a unanimous invitation. He preferred Colyton in con- 
sequence of its nearness to his aged father, and the earnest 
recommendations of his friends Doctors xVmory and Toulmin. 
In May 1773, he was ordained at the General Baptist meeting- 
house at Taunton, in conjunction with Mr. Finnemore, of 
CoUumpton, and Mr. Baynham, of Totness. Dr. Toulmin, the 
minister of the chapel, preached ; Mr. Kiddel delivered the 
charge ; and the devotional ser^nces were conducted by Mr. 
Gifford and Mr. Jillard. After residing eleven years in the 
house of Mr. Slade, Mr. Cornish removed to another dwelling, 
for the purpose of taking pupils, and continued his school, with 
considerable reputation and usefnlness, till he had entered his 
seventieth year. 

Mr. Cornish's talents and character procured in\'itations from 
several larger societies. He was proposed as the successor of 

* M. K. Vol. xviii. p. 617. 



COLYTON. 



341 



Mr. Farmer at Salters' Hall, and strongly urged to settle, in 
1781, at Tewkesbury, and in 1792, at Banbury. But the attacb- 
ment of his friends at Colyton led him to spend the remainder 
of his days among them ; and his school increased his income 
so as to enable him to live comfortably and devote a considera- 
ble sum to the poor. Mr. Holden mentions an interesting cir ' 
cumstance* in reference to his savings. " From the fluctuations 
in trade during the American War, his father was a sufferer in 
his pecuniary affairs ; and at length called his creditors together 
and honestly divided his remaining property among them. 
Many years after this, when my beloved friend, by the profits 
of his school, had it in his power to do it, he called the creditors 
together, and paid them up to twenty shillings in the pound." 

Mr. Cornish published the following works: — 1. A Serious 
and Earnest Address to Protestant Dissenters, a 4c?. tract, 
which appeared before he left the academy, and of which three 
editions were rapidly sold. 2. A Brief and Impartial History 
of the Puritans, also price 4c?., which met like its predecessor 
with a very favourable reception. 3. In 1775, A Blow at the 
Root of all Priestly Claims, — a pamphlet for the copyright of 
which Mr. Johnson, of St. Paul's Churchyard, gave the author 
five guineas, a large sum at that time to Mr. Cornish. 4. In 
1777, A Letter to Dr. Law, Bishop of Carlisle, on the Incon- 
sistency of that Prelate's Conformity to the Church, with his 
avowed wish for extensive alterations in the Liturgy and Articles. 

5. In 1780, A Life of that excellent citizen Mr. T. Firmin; 
designed to soften the prejudices of zealous Trinitarians and 
excite Christians of every persuasion to activity in doing good. 

6. In 1783, An Attempt to Display the Importance of Classical 
Learning ; addressed to the parents and guardians of youth. 7. 
In 1797, A Brief History of Nonconformity. In addition to the 
above, Mr. Cornish published a Thanksgiving Sermon; A 
Treatise on Divine Manifestations ; A Pamphlet on the Pre- 
existence of Christ, and another Treatise on Evangehcal Holi- 
ness. All these had a rapid sale, and are now out of print. 

* M. R., Vol. xviii. p. 635. 



342 



COLYTON. 



The author advocated his views of truth with so much cau- 
dour and charity, yet with so much firmness and uprightness, 
that he both won admiration and produced comiction. One 
year we see him defending Christianity with no common ability, 
and the next writing consolotary letters and sending pecuniary 
relief to a stranger in London, who had been imprisoned for 
selling Deistical publications. — And the measure he meted to 
others was measured to him again. While advocating the 
cause of Dissent at all hazards, writing against unworthy com- 
promises, and even striking " a blow at the root of all priestly 
claims," he was employed to educate the sons of men who in 
religion and politics were strictly opposed to him. So highly 
was he respected by men of all parties, that his death was uni- 
versally lamented, and he was followed to the grave by the 
curate of the parish and a large body of parishioners. Nor can 
those who knew Mr. Cornish forget that while he obtained the 
respect of his neighbours by his learning and charity, he w^alked 
with God habitually in private life, and reached the confines of 
the tomb with that peace of mind which passeth all under- 
standing. 



SIDMOUTH 



SiDMOUTH is a small but neat town, situated at the mouth of a 
narrow valley, opening to the sea, between two steep ranges of hills. 
Through this valley the little river Sid flows towards the ocean, till it 
is lost in the pebbles on the beach. The cliflfs are composed of sand, 
tinged by the red oxide of iron, and partly calcareous ; the glare of 
which, together with that of a broad bed of pebbles, and the low situa- 
tion of Sidmouth, render the town intensely hot at the time of a clear 
summer sky ; the adjacent scenery is, however, extremely delightful. 
This was formerly a good sea-port ; but the harbour has been so choked 
up with sand and pebbles, that pleasure-boats and fishing-smacks are 
the only vessels that can now approach the shore. Of late years, the 
population and buildings have increased, through the number of per- 
sons who frequent the town in the summer season for the purposes of 
bathing and recreation.— Britton and Brayley. 

Population in 1811,-1688; in 1821,-2747; in 1831,-3126. 



OLD MEETING. 



This building stands near the entrance to the 
town from Honiton. The end of it is in a line with 
the street ; yet the traveller sees no signs of a place 
of worship. It is connected with a dwelling- 
house on one side by a low wall^ in which is a door 
opening from the street into a small yard, partially 
used as a burial-ground. From this yard the meet- 
ing-house is entered ; and the interior, though 
neatly fitted up, confirms the impression which is 
derived from the outside, that its founders designed 
(as is well known to have been the case in other 
towns) that, if it ceased to be needed as a chapel, it 
should be converted into a dwelling-house. 

A hundred and twenty-five years have now elapsed 
since this humble edifice was built. Prior to that 
period — the year 1710, a Presbyterian society exist- 
ed in the town of Sidmouth. No minister was 
ejected here; but the spirit of Nonconformity, find- 
ing its way from Sidbury and other places adjacent, 
a congregation was formed in the time of Charles 
the Second. There is no account of a regular min- 
ister till 1715, when the learned and excellent Dr. 
Bennet Stevenson, afterwards pastor of the Presby- 
terian congregation at Bath, was settled at Sid- 



SIDMOUTH. 



345 



mouth, and had two hundred and fifty hearers. He 
was probably here at the time the meeting-house 
was built. 

The next minister was Mr. Palk, who began 
his ministry about the beginning of the century. 
He came here in 1719, and in the same year 
preached a sermon (afterwards published) before 
the Assembly at Exeter, on the Divinity of Christ. 
In 1731, Mr. Palk went to Southmolton, and the 
congregation chose Mr. West, of whom some account 
has been given in connexion with Ilminster, to 
which place he removed in 1738. The people were 
then supplied two or three years by Mr. John 
Brown. In 1740, the office of pastor was filled by 
Mr. Lacy, who died in the following year. He was 
followed by Mr. Berry, who, after officiating here 
eight years, succeeded Mr. Towgood at Crediton. 
Mr. Kiddel, the minister from 1750 to 1759, was a 
native of Tiverton, educated under Mr. Moore at 
Bridgwater, went from Sidmouth to Cork, and 
afterwards settled at Shepton Mallet. 

Mr. Kiddel was ordained at Sidmouth in 1750. 
Among the ministers who officiated were Mr. Moore, 
Mr. Towgood, and Mr. Amory. The tone of the 
services (to which there is an interesting allusion 
in a letter written at the time and preserved by Dr. 
Toulmin*) indicates the feelings of the Dissenters 
in the West with regard to several important ques- 
tions. Mr. Towgood's remarks on the subject of 

* See Mr. Hoare's Letter to the Rev. S. Slater, of Colyton, Mon. Rcpos., 
O. S., Vol. vii. p. 282. 



346 



SIDMOUTH. 



ordination were manly and consistent ; he asserted 
that the right of ordaining was vested in each so- 
ciety^ and disclaimed all pretence of conferring any 
latent gift or qualification. But when Mr. Kiddel 
came to give his answers on the controverted points 
of Christianity, he used language in reference to 
the Son and the Holy Spirit, which indicated a 
desire to accommodate his preaching to the notions 
of the multitude. "As to the Holy Spirit (says the 
sensible and straight-forward Mr. Hoare, in his re- 
marks on the service), as neither a throne, nor king- 
dom, nor church, nor people, are any where assigned 
him in Scripture; nor, to the best of my remem- 
brance, a single petition either immediately or by 
consequence addressed to him, I can't conceive how 
the same with a very little variation may be declared 
of him as of the other two persons. Much less can 
I conceive how an Unitarian could with the least 
propriety sum up his confession of faith with that 
glaring interpolation of 1 John v. 7, which the most 
eminent confessor of the present century* of which 
the three kingdoms can boast, now with God, has 
beyond all peradventure proved to be spurious, both 
in his tracts against Martyn and also in his address 
to the Convocation. It was the subject of an affec- 
tionate prophet's lamentation, which I wish there 
was not too much reason to resume in our days, — 
' that his brethren and countrymen were not valiant 
for the truth'; and as truth is the most valuable 
thing in the world, so I think all, but especially 

* Mr. Emlyn, of Dublin. 



SIDMOUTH, 



347 



ministers, ought tenaciously to adhere thereto, 
though it should have the misfortune to lie under 
the most discouraging circumstances." 

Mr. Kiddel was succeeded by Mr. Hogg, after- 
wards the minister at the Mint Meeting, Exeter, 
and ultimately a banker in the same city. He pub- 
lished a sermon "On the Taking of Quebec and 
other Successes against the French." We have also 
the names of Mr. Chapman, Mr. Isaac Smith, and 
Mr. William Hughes. Mr. Smith quitted England 
for America in 1784. Mr. Hughes removed to 
Leather Lane, Holborn; he has now lived many 
years in the Isle of Wight, without a pastoral 
charge. The vacancy filled by him in London was 
occasioned by the removal of Mr. Butcher to Sid- 
bury Vale for the recovery of his health. This 
gentleman having derived much benefit from the 
change of air, was, in 1798, chosen pastor of the 
Sidmouth flock. The congregation did not become 
numerous under his care ; he was not what is called 
a popular preacher ; but it maintained a highly re- 
spectable character. Among his auditors were 
several who came to Sidmouth as visiters, and who 
were thankful to find a place where they could wor- 
ship in spirit and in truth, and listen to discourses 
which, for piety, simplicity, and general utility, 
were rarely equalled. One gentleman there was, 
originally of the Jewish persuasion, who became a 
permanent resident at Sidmouth, and who was so 
much pleased with Mr. Butcher s society as well as 
ministerial services, that he presented him with a 



348 



SIDMOUTH. 



valuable piece of ground, near his own mansion, on 
which Mr. Butcher built a house. In his time the 
congregation became decidedly Unitarian, according 
to the common acceptation of the term ; Arian sen- 
timents had been professed by many of his prede- 
cessors, and the people, unfettered by trust-deeds, 
anxious only to believe what the Scriptures taught, 
gradually arrived at what they now deem Christian 
Truth. 

In 1820, Mr. Butcher was succeeded by Mr. 
Yeates, who remained here about five years. The 
congregation were then supplied by Mr. Maurice, 
formerly the minister of the Presbyterian society at 
Frenchay. This gentleman came to Sidmouth to 
obtain the benefit of the Devonshire air for some 
invalids in his family; and on his removal, the 
people, as a token of gratitude for his zealous and 
disinterested services, presented him with a silver 
waiter. The next pastor w^as Mr. Heineken, from 
the College at York, who removed to Collumpton 
in 1830. He was followed at Sidmouth by Mr. 
James, by whose ministry, though it only continued 
about two years, the congregation was much im- 
proved. During this period, great interest was ex- 
cited in the town by the delivery of a course of 
lectures, in which Mr. James declared what appear- 
ed to him the whole counsel of God. These lectures 
were frequently attended by four hundred persons ; 
a permanent addition, by no means inconsiderable, 
was made to the society ; and its future welfare was 
wisely provided for by corresponding pastoral efforts. 



SIDMOUTH. 



349 



and by the establishment of a small library and a 
Sunday-school. In 1832, Mr. James accepted an 
invitation to Bridgwater, and was succeeded by Mr. 
Baker, who had lately completed his course of edu- 
cation at York. At the beginning of 1835, Mr. 
Baker quitted Sidmouth and, it is understood, the 
ministry. The congregation are now supplied by 
Mr. Gibson, who has recently seceded from the 
Established Church, in consequence of a change in 
his sentiments. 

In the chapel, on a large board, is the following 
announcement : 

BENEFACTIONS TO THIS CHRISTIAN SOCIETY. 



Mrs. .Judith Gundry £'100. 

F. FoLAQuiER, Esq 50, 

Abraham Follett, Gent 50. 

John Carslake, Esq 100. 

Mrs. Leigh 100. 



There are two tablets ; one is to the memory of 
John Carslake, of Cotmaton, Esq., who died in 
1815, and of his sister, Elizabeth Carslake; the 
other has the following inscription : 

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the 
end of that man is peace." psalm xxxvii. 37- 

To THE MEMORY OF THE ReV. EdMUND BuTCHER, 

who died AT Bath, April 14th, 1822, aged 65 years. 
His congregation 

ERECT this tablet AS A LASTING TRIBUTE 
OF RESPECT AND ADMIRATION 
FOR THE PIETY, ZEAL, AND UNREMITTING FIDELITY 
WITH WHICH HE FULFILLED HIS PASTORAL DUTIES JN THIS PLACE 
DURING 23 YEARS. 



350 



SIDMOUTH, 



Bennet Stevenson, D.D —1719. 

William Palk 1719—1731. 

William West 1731—1738. 

John Brown 1738 — 1740. 

John Lacy 1740—1741. 

John Berry 1742 — 1750. 

Benjamin Kiddel 1750 — 1759. 

John Hogg 1759 — 1771. 

William Chapman 1772 — 1778. 

Isaac Smith 1778 — 1784. 

William Hughes 1784 — 1797. 

Edmund Butcher 1798 — 1820. 

Matthew Lee Yeates 1820 — 1825. 

Nicholas Samuel Heineken 1825 — 1830. 

William James 1830—1832. 

Thomas Baker 1832—1835. 



The Rev. Edmund Butcher was born at Colchester, iu 
1 757. His family was originally of Fearing, in Essex, a place 
of wliicli, about the year 1G67, his ancestor John Butcher was 
rector. The father of Edmund was a carpenter and builder, and 
unable to afford him many advantages. Dr. Stanton, a Dis- 
senting minister at Colchester, supplied him with preparatory 
instruction, and his progress shewed that it was not ill bestowed. 
When only fourteen years of age, he wrote a little poem of 
several books, entitled " The Brutseis," in heroic verse, on the 
fabled report of the peopliiig of Britain by the Trojans. This 
composition, ornamented with drawings of pen and ink, was 
found among his papers, and is preser\'ed as a proof of his good 
taste and persevering industry. He soon afterwards went to 
London and was apprenticed to a linen-draper. During his 



SIDMOUTH. 



351 



leisure hours, he cultivated his taste for literature, and employed 
his pen for periodical works. Whatever profits accrued were 
transmitted to his father, mother, and only sister, who composed 
the whole of the family. On the Lord's day he attended Salters' 
Hall, and became acquainted with Mr. Worthington, who, dis- 
cerning, his talents, led his views to the ministry. Furnished 
by Mr. W., with preparatory instruction, he went to Daventry 
Academy, then conducted by Mr. Belsham. 

His first settlement was at Sowerby, in Yorkshire. After 
some time he removed to London, and preached occasionally at 
Monkwell Street and Carter Lane. But his stated post was at 
Leather Lane, where he was ordained in 1789, by Messrs. 
Tayler, Kippis, Belsham, Gillibrand, Worthington, Lindsey, and 
Jacomb. He now united with a few ministers in carrying on 
a Wednesday evening lecture in Salters' Hall, which was well 
attended for several winters. He bestowed much attention on a 
Family Bible, in conjunction with Mr. Worthington, — a work 
on an original plan, and of great utility ; and he edited the 
latter volumes of the Protestant Dissenters' Magazine. At 
Leather Lane he continued many years, and revived the con- 
gregation. Popularity he could not attain, in consequence of 
the weakness of his voice ; but his sterling sense and piety 
always ensured him a respectable audience. His health be- 
coming precarious, he was obliged to leave London for Sidbury 
Vale, near Sidmouth. Here his complaint, an affection of the 
lungs, yielded to the mildness of the air, and his general consti- 
tution was invigorated. 

In 1798, Mr. Butcher was chosen pastor at Sidmouth. The 
flock was small, but he entered on his duties with cheerfulness 
and persevered in them with Christian fidelity. He and 
his family formed around them a small band of friends who 
knew their worth and studied their happiness. Within the last 
few years of his life he was afflicted with a kind of paralytic 
stroke, which produced great debility. In November, 1821, he 
removed to Bath, with the hope of gaining some relief; but, 
soon after, he fell down and dislocated his hip. This confining 



352 



SIDMOUTH. 



him to his bed, increased his debihtj, which terminated in his 
phicid dissolution, on i\pril 14, 1822. It is remarkable that he 
had long wished it might be the will of God to take him (when 
he had fulfilled all the designs of His pro\idence) on the day of 
rest. His remains were interred, earlj in the morning, at 
Ljncombe, in the cemetery belonging to the Bath Unitarian 
chapel; the service was conducted with an impressive solemnity 
by the Rev. J. Hunter. 

Besides the works already mentioned, and his "Picture of 
Sidmouth," and his " Tour through various parts of England," 
Mr. Butcher published three volumes of sermons for the use 
of families. The third volume has an interesting accoimt of 
his adoption of Humanitarianism. His last publication was a 
volume of "Prayers for the use of Families and Individuals," 
adapted for each discourse in his volume of sermons, and 
Forms suited to particular occasions." After his death, Mrs. 
Butcher published a small volume of his "Discourses on our 
Lord's Sermon on the Mount." He wrote many valuable 
hymns which have found their way into various collections. 
These were warmly admired by no less a judge than Mrs. 
Barbauld. Of the hymn on the meeting of good men of all 
parties in heaven, that lady was once heard to express the 
highest praise. 

Mr. Butcher's prominent characteristics were good sense, 
great modesty, and true liberality. The pleasures which he 
relished most keenly were the pleasures of home : some years 
before his death, he sent the following lines to a periodical pub- 
lication. 

"Ask me to choose my happiest lot, 
I choose exactly what I've got ! 
Ask me what I wish for more, — 
A little to reheve the poor : 
A Hfe well spent, since life is given. 
And long or short as pleases Heaven!"* 



* Monthly Repos., Vol. xviii. p. 312 



LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD 



Lympstone is a pleasant village eight miles from Exeter and three 
from Exmouth. The neighbourhood is celebrated for the salubrity of 
its air and the beauty of its scenery. 



LYMPSTONE and GULLIFORD MEETINGS. 



There is probably no other instance of the exist- 
ence of two Presbyterian places of worship so near 
each other in a retired situation. The more an- 
cient is about a mile from Lympstone^ and is called 
Gulliford, from an estate of that name on which it 
stands. This, however, is not the original Noncon- 
formist place of worship, having been built little 
more than sixty years. The society was formed 
soon after the passing of the Act of Uniformity, and 
consisted of the friends of Mr. Samuel Fones, who 
was ejected from Woodbury, the parish to which 
Gulliford belongs. 

Mr. Fones left the country soon after his eject- 
ment. In 1687, his people were sufficiently nu- 
merous to invite as their pastor, Mr. Samuel Tapper, 
another sufferer for conscience' sake. Two years 
afterwards, a field was obtained for erecting 
thereon a meeting for religious worship and the 
service of God of the people commonly called Pres- 
byterians." Such is the language of the original 
deed, dated April 10, 1689. Mr. Tappers '^warm 
practical preaching and holy exemplary conversa- 
tion gained him universal love among his people. 



LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD, 



355 



His congregation increased, and lie was blessed 
with success in the conversion of many souls. He 
was also generally respected by the neighbouring 
gentry who had any moderation and knew how to 
value learning, an obliging temper, and genteel 
carriage."* But his good qualities did not secure 
him from the fury of high church bigots, who, 
during the times of persecution, violently entered 
his meeting-house and broke the windows. On the 
next Lord's day, he prayed earnestly for his ene- 
mies, that God would forgive their sin and turn 
their hearts. 

In 1708, Mr. Tapper, feeling the infirmities of 
age, resigned his charge to Mr. Joseph Manston, 
who had been his assistant and was ordained at 
Lympstone, in 1703. In 1715, Mr. Manston's con- 
gregation consisted of five hundred persons. He 
acted with the orthodox in the proceedings of the 
Exeter assembly, and published a sermon On the 
Perils of False Brethren." The congregation con- 
tinued to increase so considerably, that eight years 
afterwards, as it appears by another deed, they 
obtained an additional part of the field for enlarging 
the meeting-house and the burial-ground. The 
ministers who succeeded Mr. Manston, were Mr. 
Thomas Hancock, Mr. John Turner, Mr. Thomas 
Jervis, and Mr. John Jervis.f In the year 1774, 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 283. 

f Such is the statement by one of the trustees — the Rev, M, L. Yeates, — 
to whom I am under many obligations for his efforts to procure accurate 
information. The MSS. of Mr. Wilson represent Mr. Michael Martin, 
from Launceston, as the successor of Mr. Manston and as having returned 

2 A 2 



356 



LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 



soon after the settlement of the last of these gentle- 
men, the old building was taken down and another 
erected on the adjoining site. Mr. John Jervis was 
the minister forty-seven years. I can distinctly 
remember him (says my correspondent) from 1782 
up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1820. 
So much was he respected by all denominations, 
that the members of the adjoining churches often 
left: them to attend on his services. In the summer 
months, particularly, I have a hundred times seen 
twelve and thirteen carriages at a time at the yard- 
gate. For many years, the meeting-house was at- 
tended by the first families in the neighbourhood, 
forming, with others, a regular congregation of two 
or three hundred persons, unquestionably, the most 
genteel in the West of England.'"* 

Mr. Jervis was what is generally called a Low 
Arian. His discourses were admired for their ex- 
cellent tendency and the beauty of their composi- 
tion. He was not what is usually termed eloquent, 
but had a plain, interesting delivery; and his de- 
votional services were peculiarly good. These 

to Laimceston in 1728. Mr. Thomas Clarke, a pupil of Dr. Doddridge, 
was at LjTQpstone in 17/3 ; but as one of the Mr. Jer\is's removed and 
the other succeeded him in that year, Mr. Clarke was probably only an 
assistant. Mr. Turner entered the academy at Hoxton, in 1752, came to 
LjTiipstone about 1757, and died in 17G9. 

* Polwhele, with his usual brevity in all that relates to Dissent, says, 
(Vol. ii. 211,) "The Lees support the meeting-house in this parish near 
L\Tnpstone \illage." As the congregation was in a flourishing state about 
this time, (the close of the last century,) it is probable that other highly 
respectable persons contributed their aid. The considerable property 
of the family mentioned by the historian, undoubtedly added to their 
influence in favour of the Dissenting cause at Lympstonc, and their loss 
must have been severely felt. 



LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 357 



circumstances when connected with his love of 
science^ his excellent disposition, and his active 
benevolence, account for the success of his labours. 
During the summer preceding his death, he had 
been much engaged in superintending the erection 
of a new chapel, in the village of Lympstone, a 
more central situation than Gulliford ; and it was in- 
tended that this building should be used exclusively 
in the winter, and that both should be open in the 
summer. His heart was in the undertaking ; and to 
his indefatigable exertions and perseverance it owed 
its final accomplishment.* At his particular request, 
his friend Mr. Yeates, who has ever felt a lively 
interest in the congregation, consented to preach at 
the opening. But Mr. Jervis was denied this 
gratification ; a fortnight before the time when the 
first tribute of prayer and praise was to have been 
offered in the edifice, he who watched its progress 
was attacked by a severe cold ; and, ere the day of 
opening, he was summoned to join in the services 
of a nobler temple, — a temple not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens. 

Two months afterwards, when the grief occasion- 
ed by this event was slightly diminished, Mr. 
Yeates conducted the proposed service. This was 
in 1820 ; in 1821, Mr. Seaward, who had been some 
time at Poole, became the pastor of the congrega- 
tion. It then rapidly declined ; at first the numbers 
were lessened by deaths and removals; but after- 
wards by circumstances which might have been 

* Mon. Repos. 



358 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 



prevented. Every minister cannot command popu- 
larity ; — even if his ta'ents be considerable^ his use- 
fulness may be impaired by sectarian prejudices, 
and unavoidable personal defects ; — but every mi- 
nister can let his conversation be such as becometh 
the gospel of Christ. By a contrary course, the 
interests of pure religion are often injured far more 
than by the influence of ignorance or the assaults 
of bigotry. 

A small congregation still exists at Lympstone. 
The chapels have been supplied, since Mr. Sea- 
w^ard's death, by a few ministers in the district. 
At present, the hearers have the services of Mr. 
Adams, lately the minister of the Presbyterian con- 
gregation at Marshfield. 

iWi'nfeters. 



Samuel Fones 1662— 

Samuel Tapper J 687—1708. 

Joseph Manston 1703 — 

Michael Martin — 1728. 

Thomas Hancock 1728 — 1757. 

John Turner 1757 — 1769. 

Thomas Jervis 1770 — 1773. 

John Jervis 1773—1820. 

Roger Seaward 1820—1834. 

Thomas Adams 1835. 



LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 359 



Mr, Samuel Tapper was the son of a gentleman at Exeter. 
At the age of fifteen, having been examined and approved hy 
the Exeter ministers, he was sent to Oxford. But he proved 
consumptive, and his physician obliged him to hasten into his 
native air, which he did, and quickly recovered. His first en- 
gagement was as an assistant in the church at Holdsworthj, in 
Devonshire, where he was ordained, in 1657, by several minis- 
ters of the fourth division. He was afterwards presented by 
Cromwell to the vicarage of St. Merran, in Cornwall, which at 
first he scrupled to accept ; but, at length, he took possession of 
it and continued in it till the Restoration. To his predecessor, 
Mr. Banbrigg, who had been sequestered, he allowed half his 
income, with other advantages, and they occasionally conversed 
together, in a friendly manner, both before and after Mr. Ban- 
brigg was restored. He withdrew from the establishment with 
a charitable disposition ; he was no enemy either to episcopacy 
or to a liturgy, but said he was not prepared to assent to a book 
which he could not see. His great learning, with his modera- 
tion, modesty, and candour, procured him the friendship of the 
Bishop of Exeter and many of the clergy, some of whom would 
willingly have obtained preferment for him. 

After the Restoration Mr. Tapper resided, a short time, first 
at a place called Erisey, and subsequently at Exeter. He re- 
moved to Lympstone in 1687 and lived there till his death, sa- 
tisfied with his Nonconformity, and highly respected by his 
congregation. He was celebrated for his familiar acquaintance 
with the Greek Testament, the practical strain and general use- 
fulness of his preaching, the godly simplicity and purity of his 
life. He was an example of walking closely with God in secret 
duties, and would never venture into the world without endea- 
vouring to engage the presence of God with him. Both to 
friends and enemies he discovered a generous spirit ; his charity 
was not confined to men of particular persuasions ; whoever 
was in distress, he accounted his brother and fit to be relieved. 
Mr. Tapper printed nothing, but composed a Latin inscription 



360 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 



for the monument of the Lord Chancellor Fortescue ; translated 
seven books of Milton's Paradise Lost into Latin Hexameters ; 
and left some hundreds of Latin verses on the absurdities of 
Poperj and the rogueries of the Romish priests compared with 
the Pagan.* 

The Rev. Thomas Jervis was born in 1748, at Ipswich^ 
and died in 1833, at Brompton Grove. His father, who was a 
Dissenting minister at Ipswich, placed him at the academy at 
Hoxton, on leaving which, he was chosen to the office of 
classical and mathematical tutor in the academy at Exeter. 
About the same time he was elected minister of the congregation 
at Lympstone, and immediately afterwards joint minister at 
Topsham, with the Rev. J. Bartlett. 

In 1772, an application from the Earl of Shelburne, after- 
wards Marquis of Lansdowne, led him to remove to Bowood 
to undertake the education of two of his lordship's sons. Here 
Mr. Jervis remained in the enjoyment of highly cultivated 
society, and in the faithful discharge of his important trust, 
during a period of eleven years. With the kind attention and 
friendship of the Marquis, he continued to be honoured until 
the time of that nobleman's death. Lord Fitzmaurice, the elder 
of his pupils, completed his education for the university under 
his first instruction. The younger, the Honourable William 
Granville Petty, died at a very early age, to the deep grief of all 
who knew him. According to Dr. Priestley's testimony, he 
" had made attainments in knowledge and piety beyond any 
thing he had observed in life ; " a circumstance wliich may also 
be considered as an evidence of the knowledge and piety of his 
instructor and constant companion. In 1783, on the comple- 
tion of this engagement, Mr. Jervis accepted the appointment 
of minister of the congregation at St. Thomas's, in the Borough, 
which he retained till 1795. Dr. Kippis, the minister at Princes 
Street, Westminister, dying in that year, JVlr. Jervis was chosen 



Noncon. Mem., VoL i p. 283. 



LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORI>. 361? 



his successor. In 1808, he quitted London, on receiving an 
invitation to succeed his friend Mr. Wood, as pastor of the 
society at Mill Hill chapel, Leeds. He resigned this connexion 
in 1818, and never afterwards engaged in any stated ministerial 
duties ; yet he continued for several years to assist his friends 
with occasional pulpit services. Although permitted to reach 
the advanced age of eighty- six, he preserved to the last, in a 
very remarkable degree, the vigour, activity and cheerfulness of 
his mind, with few and slight interruptions to his bodily health. 
Notwithstanding the habitual tranquillity of his mind, Mr 
Jer vis's attachment to the cause of civil and religious freedom 
was ardent as well as unshaken, and his devotional feelings were 
peculiarly animated, as appears from the hymns he contributed 
to the collection which bears his name. While he was affec- 
tionately attentive to the poor, he w^as able by his discourses to 
interest and impress the higher classes ; he also carried a pure 
and high tone of morality into the private circles of the culti- 
vated, and rendered virtue attractive by the charms of mildness 
and urbanity. With him, to use an expression of his own, 
" courtesy was the law of social life." 

Mr. Jervis's largest publication was a volume of sermons 
which possess an even and sustained excellence, together with 
an application sometimes remarkably felicitous of the stores 
supplied by a classical education. It is remarkable that his 
works contain no indications of that change of sentiment which 
Mr. Belsham and others of liis contemporaries underwent, and 
w^hich is observable in their writings. In Mr. Belsham's charge, 
delivered at the ordination of Mr. Kenrick, at Exeter, in 1785, 
there are strong traces of orthodox sentiments ; e. g. " You, 
remember. Sir, that the great Son of Grod himself when in the 
incarnate form he condescended to be a preacher of truth and 
righteousness, saw reason to complain * Who hath believed our 
report?'" Whereas, in the discourse of Mr. Jervis "on the 
blessings of Christ's mission," delivered on the same occasion, 
although his subject led him to speak of the " author, design, 
and means of our salvation," there is not a phrase which in his 



362 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 



later years he would have modified. He here speaks as he was 
wont to do to the end of his days, of the " resurrection from the 
dead and a happy restoration to immortal life" as the main topic 
of Christian instruction, — as that " in which all the blessings 
comprised in the divine favour and forgiveness may be summed 
up." It cannot be too much to presume that this hope, wrought 
into the temper of his soul, contributed largely to his lengthened 
enjoyment of health, cheerful spirits, and intellectual "sagour. 
The latter characteristic was strikingly evinced in a pamphlet 
written in his eighty-fourth year, in reply to Mr. Warner's tra- 
ditional tale of a supernatural appearance of Mr. Petty after his 
decease. 

Mr. Jervis married Frances Mary, daughter of his intimate 
friend Dr. Disney. His remains repose near those of this ex- 
cellent man in the churchyard of Fryerning, Essex. To Mrs. 
Jervis and others who attended the couch of the dying patriarch 
there were many sources of consolation. The pious wish 
expressed in his own touching description of the termination of 
the Christian's life was fully verified in his own case. 

When my dim eyes are sunk in death. 
And God who gave shall take my breath ; 
May he sustain my fainting heart. 
And comfort to my soul impart. 

May his kind presence bring relief 
From fear, despondency, and grief. 
His cheering voice direct my way 
To regions of eternal day. * 

The Rev. John Jervis, F.L.S. This gentleman was dis- 
tinguished by his talents and virtues, and by his acquirements 
in various branches of knowledge, particularly in natural history. 
His favourite studies were botany and mineralogy. He left a 
large collection of plants:, and choice specimens of minerals 



* Unitarian Chronicle, Vol. ii. p. 317, 



LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 363 



scientifically arranged by his own hand. In these he found a 
rational, refined and permanent resource. While, with a philo- 
sophic eye, he surveyed the wonders of nature, he discerned the 
mighty hand which directs and regulates the whole. He con- 
versed with the creation in his works, and felt the full force of 
that sublime truth, — " In wisdom hast thou made them all!" 

Mr. John Jervis and Mr. Thomas Jervis were ordained to- 
gether in 1779. On this occasion, Dr. Priestley preached his 
sermon "on the doctrine of the Divine influence on the human 
mind." The other parts of the service were conducted by Dr. 
Kippis and the Rev. Sir Harry Trelawney, the worthy Baronet 
having lately joined the Dissenters. "About the beginning of 
July, 1779, (says Mr. Howe, in a sketch of Sir Harry's fife,) I 
met with him by appointment at Lympstone, near Exeter, at the 
ordination of Mr. Jervis. Sir Harry introduced the service. Dr. 
Kippis delivered an excellent charge, and Dr. Priestley preached 
an ingenious sermon which was afterwards published. There 
were a number of Dissenting ministers present. The afternoon 
was employed in conversation suitable to the characters of some 
^f the most famous men of the age, in which Dr. Priestley, Dr. 
Kippis, and Mr. Towgood bore the principal part. Although 
they discoursed on controversial topics, and differed much in 
opinion from one another, yet the conversation was conducted 
with politeness, pleasantry, and good humour. Sir Harry ex- 
pressed the highest satisfaction and said, he esteemed it the 
happiest event in his life, and the most favourable dispensation 
of Providence, which brought him acquainted with such learned, 
pious, and worthy men."* 

Although the subject of this notice delighted to explore the 
natural world, his principal employments had an immediate 
reference to his office as a Christian minister. His habitual 
enjoyment of interesting scenery " exempt from public haunts" 
did not make him selfish ; on the contrary, his chief aim was to 
cultivate the social virtues. In the discharge of his pastoral 

* Christ. RgL, N. S., Vol. i. p. 509. 



364 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 



duties, he exhibited to his flock a beautiful pattern of candour, 
rectitude, and benevolence. During fortj-seven years, they en- 
joyed the benefit of his pious instructions and the light of his 
shining example. On subjects of free inquiry and theological 
disquisition, his sentiments were liberal and enlightened. In 
private life his conversation was interesting ; and he constantly 
promoted the happiness of those around him by his urbanity 
and cheerfulness. His sterling worth and unostentatious virtues 
not only endeared him to his intimate friends, but rendered him 
highly esteemed by his neighbours of all classes and of every 
religious persuasion. To the poor he was an invaluable friend. 
"In all their afflictions he was afflicted;" and his sympathy 
and kindness soothed and alleviated their sorrow. " The bless- 
ing of him who was ready to perish came upon him, and he 
caused the widow's heart to sing for joy." It has been shewn 
how anxious Mr. Jervis was to engage in the service of God, 
and promote the cause of religion at the time of his death. His 
life ended as it had been spent, amidst honourable and useful 
labours. During his short and final illness his mind continued 
calm and collected, supported by a firm yet humble reliance on 
the hopes and promises of the gospel.* 



* Mon. Repos., Vol. xv. p. 680. 



TOPSH A M. 



"Apsham — a praty tounlet on the shore, a 4 miles upper in the 
haven. Heere is the great trade and rode for shippes that usith this 
haven, and especially for the shippes and merchant mannes goodes of 
Excester. Men of Excester contende to make the haven to cum up 
to Excester self. At this tyme shippes cum not farther up but ta 
Apsham."— Lei. AiiD. 

"As we sail down the Exe, its peninsular appearance hath a charm- 
ing effect. The town of Topsham, pleasantly situated to the south 
of Exeter, consists of one long street, extending north and south 
nearly half a mile, on the eastern bank of the river Exe ; some part 
of which street is wide, the other contracted. There are many well- 
built houses interspersed throughout the town." 

" The church stands about the centre of the town, built on the edge 
of a high cliff ; so that the churchyard, in proportion to its height, 
commands a still more extensive view than the strand. And the 
scenery is extremely picturesque— a noble river, distant shipping, 
churches glimmering through groups of trees, a fertile vale, and a fine 
range of mountains, rising above each other in beautiful perspective, 
as far as the eye can reach."— Polwhele. 

Population in 1811,-2871; in 1821,-3156; in 1831,-3184, 



OLD MEETING-HOUSE, 



Religious Liberty found a zealous advocate at 
Topsham so early as the year 1645. The celebrated 
Ames Short, M. A., of Exeter College, Oxford, then 
commenced his labours in this town. About five 
years afterwards he removed to Lyme Eegis, in 
Dorsetshire, where he continued until the noted 
Bartholomew Day, Few ministers in the West of 
England were placed in such perilous situations at 
this critical period; and few acted a more distin- 
guished and honourable part. His father disin- 
herited him; he was several times in prison; on 
more than one occasion his life w^as in imminent 
danger from the violence of the soldiery; and he 
was frequently harassed by troublesome and frivo- 
lous accusations. Yet he survived the times of per- 
secution, and lived to bring forth fruit in his old 
age." When liberty was granted to the Dissenters, 
he opened a place of public worship at Lyme, in 
which eight candidates for the ministry were or- 
dained during the year 1687.* 

In 1662, the incumbent at Topsham was a Con- 
formist ; but the principles implanted by Mr. Short 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 458. 



TOPSHAM. 



367 



had taken deep root among the people. Some time 
after the passing of the Act of Uniformity, a Dis- 
senting congregation was formed under the care of 
Mr. Benjamin Berry, who had been ejected from 
Mary Tavy, in this county. In 1687, we find the 
name of the Rev. Bernard Starr in connexion with 
the society;* and in the same year, Mr. William 
Horsham was ordained as their pastor, and com- 
menced a long and successful career. He was at 
Topsham in 1715, with six hundred hearers; his 
name occurs again four years afterwards ; and it is 
probable that he continued his services till 1723, 
when Mr. Daniel Cooper became the minister. Mr. 
Horsham died in 1725, and Mr. Cooper in 1727; 
the latter was in the morning of life, and had only 
been the pastor of the congregation about four 
years. 

It was during Mr. Coopers ministry that the 
present meeting-house was assigned to Trustees. 
The assignment was made by one individual, Mr. 
George Hodder, who was probably at the cost of 
building it; the society is designated Presbyterian. 
Mr. Cooper s successor was Mr. Stephen Towgood, 
who removed to Exeter in 1745. The society then 
elected Mr. Aaron Pitts, whose name is found in 
the list of students educated at Mr. Hallet's Aca- 
demy, a strong indication of the early heterodoxy of 
his people. Among Mr. Pitts' fellow-students were 
Mr. King, afterwards Lord Chancellor; Mr. Hubert 
Stogdon, whose reputed heresy excited so much at- 

* Mr. Wilson's MSS. 



368 



TOPSHAM, 



tention ; and Dr. James Foster, still more celebrated 
for the honesty with which he formed and avowed 
unpopular opinions. 

In 1771, the congregation, having been deprived 
by death of Mr. Pitts, elected as his successor Mr. 
J. P. Bartlett^ who remained here till his own de- 
cease in 1788. The next minister was Mr. Joseph 
Jeffries, who resigned at the close of the following 
year, and was succeeded by Mr. Blatchford, who is 
said to have been very useful at Topsham in form- 
ing Sunday-schools on liberal grounds. When 
he had filled the situation six years, he went 
with his wife and family to some town in North 
America, where his ministerial services were both 
acceptable and lucrative, and where he received the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity. 

After Mr. Blatchford's departure, the congrega- 
tion were without a settled minister more than a 
year and a half, which proved injurious to its inte- 
rests. On the first of January, 1797, Mr. John 
Follett, a relative of the distinguished lawyer. Sir 
William Follett, M. P., undertook the pastoral office, 
and has continued at Topsham to the present time. 
Many of the particulars in this account were com- 
municated by that gentleman. He thus concludes 
his statement: ''There is noAV only to add, that 
some desertions, several removals of residence, and 
numerous deaths, have gradually reduced this once 
large and respectable society to a very small one 
indeed." * 

* There are a few Unitarians in the neighbouring town of Totness ; but 



TOPSHAM, 



3W 



Benjamin Berry 

Bernard Starr 

William Horsham 

Daniel Cooper 

Stephen Towgood 

Aaron Pitts 

James Perry Bartlett . . 

Joseph Jeffries 

Samuel Blatchford, D. D, 
John Follett 



ir)87— 1723. 
1723—1727. 
1727—1745. 
1746—1771. 
1771^1788. 

1788— 1789. 

1 789— ] 795. 
1797. 



they are not sufficiently numerous to form a society. They have a chapel, 
which was erected many years since on a piece of ground adjoining the 
site of a larger meeting-house then taken down in consequence of its 
being in a ruinous condition. Tlae last Unitarian minister at Totness was 
the Rev. J. C. Wallace, now of Wareham, who settled here in 1823, and 
remained a few years with the hope of reviving the society. The first 
minister of the present chapel was the Rev. W. Johns ; after this gentle- 
man left, the Unitarians are said to have been without a minister nearly 
twenty years. In the list of ministers who officiated in the old building, I 
have Francis Whiddon, Samuel Mullins, Thomas Edgely, Henry Atkins, 
Samuel Carkeet, Thomas Hancock, John Reynell, Thomas Chapman, 
Jacob Hayes, and Henry Baynham — most of whom ranked among the 
firmest and most enlightened friends of truth, virtue, and liberty, in the 
West of England. The chapel is at present let to another denomination of 
Christians. 



2b 



K X E T E R . 



"The history of the city of Exeter is lost in the remotest antiquity. 
Without recurring to unauthenticated legends and romantic traditions 
of Trojan founders and Trojan governors, Exeter may justly boast of 
having been a very considerable Roman station. Its beautiful and 
commanding position, its rapid and navigable river, the salubrity of 
the climate and the fertility of the surrounding country, would natu- 
rally arrest the attention of the judicious and enterprising Romans. 
By them it was called Isca Danmoniorum. 

" The city, exclusive of the suburbs, is about a mile and a half in 
circumference. At an early period, it was divided into four wards or 
quarters — East, West, North, and South; but the castle was not in- 
cluded in this division. By the charter of King Charles I. the city is 
governed by the mayor, assisted by the recorder and eight aldermen, 
(who are justices of the peace,) and fifteen common council-men. 

"Few towns of the same size can boast of so many churches as 
Exeter, Besides the cathedral and some ancient chapels, there are 
no less than eighteen parish churches in the city and its immediate 
suburbs. Very few of these edifices contribute in any degree to the 
embellishment of the city. Generally speaking, they are mean in 
appearance, half concealed by other buildings, and present little to 
arrest the notice of the curious antiquarian. With such a magnificent 
model as the cathedral in the heart of Exeter, it is matter of astonish- 
ment to strangers and visiters, that a better style of architecture does 
not present itself in the parish churches. But it should be observed, 
that several of these churches are of a date prior to the cathedral. 

" Though Exeter is no longer the key and bulwark of the West of 
England, by the strength of her fortifications — though she has ceased 
to be the great mart of our staple commodity — though she cannot 
boast of being the theatre of many brilliant exploits in the page of 
English annals — though she contains not the sepulchres of any of 
those illustrious heroes to whom we are indebted for our Christianity, 
our monarchy, and our constitution — she is, nevertheless, the ornament 
and the first city of the West, in dignity, antiquity, and beautiful situa- 
tion." — Oliver. 

Population in 1811,-18,896; in 1821,— 23,479 ; in 1831,-28,201. 

2 b2 



GEOEGE S MEETING. 



In the early history of Dissent few places are 
more frequently mentioned than the city of Exeter. 
Ten ministers were ejected from its parishes by the 
Act of Uniformity, and it was the rallying place of 
many others who lost their livings in the neighbour- 
hood. The Nonconformists' Memorial furnishes an 
account of more than a hundred confessors, at this 
critical period, within the borders of the county of 
Devon. Many resorted to Exeter, and employed 
themselves soon after the memorable Bartholomew 
Day in forming congregations, notwithstanding the 
more than usual severity of the magistrates. At 
first, small parties of the adherents of the ejected 
pastors assembled privately in the houses of the 
more courageous, anxious to hear, though by stealth, 
the prayers and exhortations of the men whose 
labours had already largely promoted their spiritual 
improvement. And as brighter times arrived, they 
lost no opportunity of forming themselves into dis- 
tinct societies, and manifesting openly their attach- 
ment to the cause they had cherished, at the hazard 
of their worldly possessions and personal safety. 

The congregation now assembling in George's 



EXETER. 



373 



Meeting consists partly of the descendants of five 
ancient societies. Their places of worship were 
called James's Meeting, Bow Meeting, Castle Lane 
Meeting, Mint Meeting, and the Little Meeting. 
The first three appear to have been built about the 
same time, for the use of the original Noncon- 
formists, probably as soon as the law permitted. 
Jamess Meeting was so called in consequence of 
the declaration of Indulgence by James the Second; 
it was relinquished and converted into dwelling- 
houses in 1760, the year in which Georges was 
opened. Bow Meeting was taken down in 1795; 
the congregation, into whose hands it had fallen, 
then built the Independent chapel in Castle Street ; 
in the preceding year the Western Unitarian Society 
held their fourth annual meeting in the old building, 
hy invitation of the Trustees. Of the Castle Lane 
Meeting the accounts are very scanty ; it originally 
belonged to the Independents ; what became of the 
place of worship does not appear. On the removal 
of Mr. Robert Atkinson, about the middle of the 
last century, the congregation united with the 
others. * The Mint Meeting was built by the ad- 
herents of Mr. Peirce and Mr. Hallet, in 1719, in 
consequence of the memorable division on the Tri- 
nitarian question. Their exertions were followed 

* The founder of this congregation was the celebrated Lewis Stuckley, 
an ejected minister. He was succeeded by Mr. Peter Jillard, who, after 
living a short time at Exeter, removed to Crediton, and subsequently 
to Bristol. The next and only other minister besides Mr, Atkinson was 
Mr. George Denbury, in whose time there were about four hundred hear- 
ers.~Eng. Presb., 126. 



374 



EXETER. 



by those of ministers of kindred sentiments till 
1810, when the chapel was sold to the Wesley ans, 
who took it down and erected a new ane on the 
same spot. Of the Little Meeting there are also 
but few particulars ; it was situated nearly opposite 
the Friar s Gate, in Holloway, and appears to have 
been closed soon after the opening of George's. 
The localities of the Bow, Mint, and Castle Lane 
buildings are indicated by their respective names. 
Georges Meeting is situated in South Street, near 
the South Gate, and derived its name from its being 
built at the time George the Third came to the 
crown. At this period the congregation and their 
pastors* manifested an extraordinary anxiety to be 
noted for their loyalty. 

From this brief account of the meeting-houses, we 
proceed to the general history of the Exeter Dissent- 
ers. For many years before the passing of the Act 
of Uniformity, Presbyterianism maintained an almost 
undivided sway in the city and neighbourhood. 
There were a few Independents who had ministers 
of their own persuasion, officiating, like those of the 
more numerous denomination, in the cathedral and 
the various parish churches. Among these two 
bodies of Christians great harmony prevailed ; a 
well-attended Tuesday's lecture, set on foot by Mr. 
Ford, was conducted by all the ministers of the city 
in their turn ; and each church alternately had com- 

* One of the Rev. M. Towgood's works is an elaborate attempt to shew 
that the Dissenters had the chief hand in reprobating the execution of 
Charles the First, and procuring the restoration of his son. 



EXETER. 



375 



munions once a fortnight in which the members of 
the other congregations were invited to participate. 
This union not only preserved harmony among the 
Presbyterian and Congregational denominations, 
but enabled them to diminish more effectually the 
influence of those enthusiasts in the city, by whom 
ordinances of all kinds were denounced, and many 
other wild notions industriously propagated. From 
1650 to 1662, the established ministers pursued 
their courses of usefulness with great quiet and 
comfort. Then came those arbitrary laws which, 
though aiming to make the faith and worship of 
Christians uniform, produced the most lamentable 
divisions. Most of the ministers who were now 
ejected from their livings at Exeter were willing to 
make large concessions on points of ceremony and 
church discipline, but they could not swear their 
unfeigned assent to all and every thing contained in 
a book which they had not even time to examine. 
Vain were all their declarations of loyalty to the 
king s person and government ; vain their appeals to 
the success which, under the blessing of God, had 
followed their spiritual labours. The officers to 
whom their remonstrances were made, intoxicated 
with their newly-acquired power, or influenced by 
the prevailing infatuation, shewed no mercy to the 
unfortunate pastors, and, in many cases, granted less 
indulgence than even the law was willing to allow. 

The most eminent of the ministers for exertions 
and sufferings were Ford, Stuckley, Atkins, Bartlett, 
Gaylard, Serle, Hallet, Hoppin, and Trosse. Ford 



376 



EXETER. 



and Stuckley were ejected from the Cathedral; 
Atkins, from St. Johns Church; Bartlett, from 
St. Mary's in the Moor ; Gaylard, from Ede ; Serle, 
from Plympton ; Hallet, from Chiselborough, in 
Dorsetshire ; and Hoppin and Trosse, from colleges 
at Oxford. Of these ministers, five remained in and 
near Exeter by virtue of their previous connexion 
with their flocks ; the others were led to settle here 
by persecution elsewhere, the prospect of living 
with friends, or invitations from newly-formed so- 
cieties. These societies, as I have intimated, sprang 
into existence immediately on the passing of the 
Act of Uniformity. The majority of the adherents 
of the ejected ministers assembled at the usual 
times, though in different places, every Lord's day. 
But there were a few, who, though professedly be- 
longing to the general body, contented themselves 
with attending the week-day services of the Dis- 
senters, and receiving the Lord's Supper in their 
meeting-houses. The latter class were encouraged 
by several of the Exeter ministers, who refused to 
conduct public worship at the time of its celebration 
in the parish church, where they often attended, 
desiring by this occasional conformity to manifest a 
catholic spirit, and obtain toleration, if not compre- 
hension, from the government. But in 1664 the 
Parliament passed the Conventicle Act, by which it 
was decreed, that all who should attend Dissenting 
worship, in the presence of more than five persons, 
should be subject, for the first offence to three 
months' imprisonment, for the second to six, and 



EXETER. 



for the third to seven years' transportation; the 
penalty of an escape from the latter sentence being 
death without benefit of clergy! Yet so resolute 
were the Nonconformist societies at Exeter, that 
this cruel act did not dissolve them. Mr. Trosse 
and other ministers occasionally preached with 
much earnestness and acceptance; and, notwith- 
standing the great power entrusted to sheriffs and 
justices of the peace, they generally avoided punish- 
ment.* This course they pursued amidst all the 
subsequent persecutions. In 1668, new severities 
were introduced, and many private meetings of Dis- 
senters, which had been held by connivance, were 
broken up; in 1670, the Conventicle Act was re- 
vived with additional rigour, the effects of which 
produced one loud cry of distress from every part 
of the kingdom ; the jails were crowded ; informers 
were every where pursuing their vile occupation ; 
soldiers were invading the peace and plundering the 
property of Dissenters, on pretence of searching for 
conventicles ; while the king and his court, bidding 
defiance to all virtue, and intent only on their own 

* " I preached once every week, (says Mr. Trosse,) and administered 
the sacrament every month, in the midst of violent persecutions, in private 
houses, sometimes by day and sometimes by night, sometimes to a smaller 
and at other times to a greater company. For a long time together I 
preached in the very heart of the city, every Wednesday, about two or 
three of the clock in the afternoon, to a very considerable society, which 
fill'd two chambers. This could not but be observed by the Church party ; 
but for a considerable while we continued without disturbance ; till at 
length a magistrate came upon us, and found us asscmbl'd. But, by God's 
good providence, I escaped, tho' very narrowly. For I got into another 
chamber, where I was hid, and though I was diligently sought for, and 
every coffer opened, yet could they not find mc." — Lt/e of Trosse, p. 9L 



378 



EXETER. 



guilty pleasures, turned a deaf ear to the complaints 
of the sufferers. Yet still the Dissenters of Exeter 
adhered steadily to their principles, and, though 
now chiefly bound together by the ties of faith and 
love, formed an interesting and far from powerless 
portion of the Christian church. 

In 1672, when Charles the Second pretended to 
compassionate the Nonconformists, the pastors in 
this city obtained a transient relief. Mr. Trosse, 
though suspecting that the king was indirectly en- 
deavouring to bring back Popery, thought it his 
duty to accept a license. The Independent congre- 
gation, served by Mr. Stuckley, applied to his 
Majesty for a similar act of favour. It was part of 
the policy of the Government that such applications 
should be made ; and various eminent Dissenters in 
London were employed to write to their country 
brethren on the subject. The following documents 
will shew the reader how the affair was managed : 

Letter from Mr. Butler y of London, to a Dissenter in 
the Coimtry.* 

Lond. Ap. 4f^j — 72. 

I AM not unmindful of friends, and therefore thought good to 
offere my service to jou and any of jour brethren, in order 
to procuring licenses. [They] Shall cost nothing. Our Lon- 

* The name of the Dissenter in the country I have not heen able to as- 
certain ; he probably lived in Lancashire. The documents are selected 
from a curious MS. note-book, containing a vast fund of information re- 
lating to the affairs of the Dissenters from 1662 to 1673. For the use 
which I have made of this book I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. J. 
S. Smallfield, of Homerton, into whose possession it came a short time 



EXETER. 



379 



clon ministers have returned tliankes, and most have already 
taken out their licenses. Its expected that someth: by way of 
addresse be sent from those in the countrey. 2 examples I 
have sent you, coppyed by my men from the originall ; the 
places must be mentioned and so licensed, the name of the min- 
ister and his Persuasion, and so he wid not only be licensed to 
this place, but to all places whatever we have licensed. If you 
please you may direct your letter to mee in little St. Hellens in 
Bishopgate Street. 

I am 

S'' your loving friend, 

Nicholas Butler. 

To the Kings most excellent maiestie. 

The cordial acknowledgement and humble petition of a church 
of Christ in Exeter. 

Humbly sheweth, 

That your maiesties late Declara: of the suspention of the 
execution of the penal statutes against Nonconformity in places 
your ma^^^ shall approve of hath abundantly refreshed our 
wearey spirits, hath given us great inducements to bless God in 
your ma^^^s behalf and hath laid on us the deepest obligations 
to serve your ma^^^ w^*^ our lives and fortunes. We cannot but 
looke on your ma^'^ as the breath of our nostrils, as the Repairer 
of our breaches and a restorer of our paths to dwell in. 

May it please your ma^i^ so far to condescend to your ma*^^«=s 
faithful and Loyal subjects, as to give your Roy all grant & 
favour, that Mr. Lewis Stukeley be allowed by your ma'^^ to be 
our teacher, in an house belonging to Mr. Nicholas Sawney 
in the said citty of Exeter. And the said Mr. Stukeley & 
your petitioners shall ever pray for your ma^^^^ long, prosperous 

since. It is particularly rich in records of the earliest proceedings of the 
Lancashire and Cheshire Nonconformists — records, of which, with the 
permission of the owner, I shall avail myself with a view to the extension, 
at some future period, of my historical undertaking. 



380 



EXETER. 



& peaceable raigue, auil that God would be pleased to requite 
your ma^^'^'^ remembering of us in our low condition. 
[Signed by thirty- eight persons.] 

In 1673, the declaration of indulgence was with- 
drawn, having continued in force only about sixteen 
months. Mr. Trosse immediately '"desisted from 
public preaching on the Lord's day, and frequented 
the prelatical assemblies with great constancy."* 
He probably coincided with the mistaken opinion 
expressed by Alderman Love, an eminent Dissenter^ 
in the House of Commons, that it was better for 
the Dissenters again to have their liberties abridged, 
than for the Catholics to be protected by their 
shield.-j- This forbearance, however, did not con- 
ciliate the High-Church party; the bishops and 
magistrates became more vehement than ever against 
the Nonconformists ; and the King, piqued by 
the ill-success of his scheme in favour of Popery, 
issued a proclamation for putting the act against 
Conventicles in full force. During the interval 
of its suspension, Mr. Hallet, who had been ejected 
from a living in Dorsetshire, accepted an invitation 
from one of the Exeter societies; — the following 
memorial bears witness to the immediate revival of 
the persecuting spirit : 

Eion, June 14, IGT'i. 

" On Monday last, the 2'"' instant, according to the order ot 
the Mayor and .Justices ol' the city of Exou, l\Jr. Joseph Hallet 



Life of Trosse, 



t NcaVs History of the Puritans, 



EXETER. 



381 



and Mr. Jolni Palmer appeared before tliem at the Guildlial], 
(some hmidreds of people being present,) where it was sworn 
against them bj two witnesses, produced by one Gould, an in^ 
former, that at Mr. Palmer's house the said Mr. Hallet did 
preach, near 200 persons being present. The said Mr. Palmer 
and Mr. Joseph Hallet pleaded, in justification of the fact, the 
King's declaration of license, which they desired, again and 
again, might be publicly read, but could not obtain it. They 
much insisted upon the King's authority, which was (they ap- 
prehended) a sufficient warrant for what they did. But this 
argument would not be heard, the Mayor, Deputy Recorder, 
Justices, and three lawyers more called in to their assistance, 
telling the said Mr. Hallet and Mr. Palmer that the King had 
no such authority in matters ecclesiastical, it being against an 
z\ct of Parliament. To which, after it had been answered that 
in that very Act of Parliament ecclesiastical power was acknow- 
ledged to the King by a proviso, and that His Majesty there- 
upon claimed it in his declaration, they passed to another alle- 
gation, viz. that the King had revoked the declaration and 
licenses by taking off the great seal ; and though it was answered 
the privy seal and His Majesty's hand were still on, the great 
seal being put on some months after, and not long before the 
Parliament sate (which the Deputy Recorder denied), yet could 
nothing avail ; but still they denied His Majesty's authority as 
to the liberty he granted, and so proceeded to judge the evidence 
against Mr. Hallet and Mr. Palmer to be a conviction, and ac- 
cordingly fined them ; so that they are in hourly expectation of 
having their houses rifled and their goods violently carried away. 

" Since which time warrants are granted against the said Mr. 
Hallet and Mr. Palmer for £20. each, and against thirty-five 
persons more, and the constables have been several times en- 
deavouring to take the distresses." 
[Signed by ten persons.]* 



* English Presbyterian, p, 100. 



382 



EXETER. 



From this year (1673) to the declaration of In- 
dulgence in 1687. the sufferings of the Dissenters 
increased to a degree of which it is difficult to 
form an adequate conception. Yet Mr. Trosse and 
his brethren could not refrain from doing all in 
their power to keep alive the love of spiritual free- 
dom and the desire for moral and religious improve- 
ment which still prevailed in their scattered flocks. 
The time of their greatest danger was that of the 
accession of James the Second. Though they had 
been harassed by frequent fines and the constant 
fear of informers, during fourteen long years, they 
proceeded with comparative security till the death 
of Charles, when those bloodhounds of persecution 
which before had only bayed at a distance, were let 
loose in every part of the country. It was under- 
stood at Exeter, that the surest way to obtain the 
favour of the new monarch was to crush, without 
mercy, all the advocates of freedom, and especially 
the undaunted, noble-minded Nonconformists. Ac- 
cordingly. Trosse. Serle. Gaylard, Hoppin, and 
Hallet. were all seized on frivolous pretences, and 
committed to prison. These ministers were pro- 
bably not exposed to all the hardships of the prisons 
of this dreadful time ; their connexions, in private 
life, with the magistrates and other leading men in 
the city, procured them some abatement of the usual 
rigour; and from Mr. Trosse's own account we learn 
that fourteen wealthy friends alternately sent them 
a plentiful dinner every day. But the punishment 
was still dangerously severe; the sufferers had been 



EXETER. 



383 



accustomed not only to enjoy the advantages of air 
and exercise, but to possess in their own homes all 
the comforts of life ; nor were they insensible to the 
degradation of being confined in the same buildings 
with the most hardened criminals, to whose de- 
praved and wicked conversation they were perpe- 
tually obliged to listen. The illegality of Mr. ' 
Trosse's commitment is shewn in the following 
passage, taken from his life : 

" We held our meeting on Mondays, in the afternoon, about 
two o'clock, in a place very private and secure, as we thought, 
to which were several passages ; and some came one way and 
some another to it, and in a small number, that we might the 
better avoid discovery. And we met in those times of danger 
only to pray together. But how closely and prudently soever 
we thought we carried it, we were discovered by a malignant 
neighbour, who went and informed against us to the magistrates, 
who were then at feast with the mayor of the city. Hereupon, 
no less than three magistrates, with constables, and some of the 
baser and ruder sort, came to find us out, and seize us. After 
they had searched an house or two, at length they discovered 
our little meeting, and found about twenty people, of whom 
three were aged ministers, and I the youngest of them. They 
gave us hard language, and treated us as if we had been the 
worst of malefactors. The ministers were committed to the 
care of the constables, to be by them conducted to one of the 
magistrate's houses ; where, after awhile, we were sentenced to 
be sent to gaol, unless we would take the oath, which has these 
clauses in it, (viz.) * That it is unlawful upon any pretence what- 
soever to take up arms against the King, or any commissioned 
by him ; and that we will not endeavour any alteration of go- 
vernment, either in Church or State.' We refused that oath. 
As to my own part, I declared my resolution not to take it, 
because by it, under some circumstances which by the provi- 



384 



EXETER. 



dence of God might attend me, I might swear against my dutj. 
I offered several instances and reasons which made me scruple 
taking that oath, but could receive no satisfactory answer. Then 
I desired that I might be allowed to put in the word (unlaw- 
fully), and so I would take the oath : for I was ready to declare 
that I would not unlawfully endeavour any alteration of govern- 
ment. But they told me, they could not favour me in that par- 
ticular, but I must take it verbatim, as it was in the Act. Which 
I told them, I conld by no means do. They then replied. You 
must go to prison. I pleaded, that the Act did not extend to 
me, neither were they obliged to propose the oath to me, because 
the law expressly says, — * That he must either be a non-confor- - 
mist, turned out for non-conformity, or one competed of keeping 
Conventicles.' Now I was obnoxious upon neither of these 
accounts ; for I never had a benefice to be turned out of, neither 
was ever legally convicted of keeping Conventicles ; but tho' I 
was not included in the Act, yet they committed me to prison, 
without any law to warrant what they did." 

The declaration of Indulgence by James^ though 
viewed in much the same light as that of his brother, 
mitigated the hardships of the Exeter Dissenters, 
and enabled them to build a meeting-house. But 
nothing like security was felt till some time after 
the landing of the Prince of Orange, which took 
place in the following year. His army marched 
from Torbay to Exeter, and here his memorable 
declaration was published. But the whole county 
was still so terrified by the executions which had 
followed Monmouth's rebellion, that for several days 
very few joined the Prince. The bishop (Lamplugh) 
fled to London, and carried intelligence of the inva- 
sion to the court, where he was immediately reward- 
ed with the archbishopric of York, which had long 



EXETER. 



385 



been kept vacant, with the intention, a^ was univer- 
sally believed, of bestowing it on some Catholic.* 
Even the Dissenters of Exeter received the Prince 
with coldness ; and while the Established Clergy re- 
fused to hear Bishop Burnet, the Nonconformist 
Pastors would have nothing to do with the Reverend 
Mr. Ferguson. This man was ejected in 1662 
from a living in Kent ; he afterwards followed Lord 
Shaftesbury to Holland, and returned to England 
with the Duke of Monmouth ; having contrived to 
escape on the failure of the latter, he came back 
in the train of the Prince of Orange.-j* Clever he 
unquestionably was ; but those who knew him best 
had the lowest opinion of his moral character. On 
his arrival at Exeter he expressed a wish to preach ; 
the Dissenters, however, refused him the keys of 
the meeting-house. "Then, (he exclaimed, laugh- 
ing,) I will take the kingdom of heaven by violence," 
and, calling for a hammer, he broke open the door 
with his own hand, forced his way with his sword 
to the pulpit, J and preached from Psalm xciv. 16: 
"Who will rise up for me against evil-doers.'^" This 
proceeding tended to injure the Prince's cause 
among the Dissenters; yet they expressed their 
willingness to support him, as soon as they became 
thoroughly acquainted with his views and saw him 
surrounded by gentlemen of influence and charac- 
ter. 

* Hume's History, Vol. viii. p. 294. 
t Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 60. 

X Harleian Miscellany. Quoted in Eng. Presb., p. 101. 

2 c 



386 



EXETER. 



Twenty-six years had now elapsed since the 
passing of the Act of Uniformity. Several of those 
excellent men who became ministers of Noncon- 
formist congregations at Exeter, in consequence of 
that event, had entered into their rest. Mr. Hallet, 
one of the most prominent, was drawing near the 
close of his honourable and useful life — ^happy in 
believing that brighter days were awaiting the 
cause he loved. He died in 1689, and was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. George Trosse, one of the ejected 
students. This minister had been in early life as 
noted for his immorality as he was now for his 
piety. He was well known in Exeter, and con- 
tinued to preach to Mr. Hallet's congregation till 
his own death, in the year 1713. His colleague 
was a son of Mr. Hallet, who had been chosen two 
years before the death of his father, and was one of 
the ministers at the time of the celebrated contro- 
versy which ended in the ejectment of himself and 
Mr. Peirce. The latter came in 1713, on the death 
of Mr. Trosse ; and the other Presbyterian ministers 
at this remarkable period were Mr. Withers, chosen 
in 1704 to succeed Mr. Hoppin ; and Mr. Lavington, 
appointed to fill up another vacancy two years after 
the settlement of Mr. Peirce. The Exeter Noncon- 
formists were now numerous and powerful; they 
comprised a large portion of the most religious, in- 
dustrious, and affluent inhabitants; many were 
thriving tradesmen and manufacturers, whose suc- 
cess in the world, so far from being retarded by 
their opinions, now that persecution had relaxed its 



EXETER. 



387 



hold, was rather increased by the freedom and en- 
terprise in secular concerns which those opinions 
generated. There were three Presbyterian congre- 
gations ; two had their two respective pastors ; and 
the third was ministered to by each of the four 
ministers in rotation; a committee of thirteen was 
entrusted with the general management of their 
congregational affairs — -the contributions of the 
whole body being thrown into a common stock and 
divided equally.* Hitherto no material difference had 
been openly avowed with regard to points of faith; 
the more abstruse doctrines had not been often intro* 
duced in public, and those who questioned them in 
private were anxious to avoid the discredit of not 
believing them ; each minister had been obliged at 
his ordination to sign the Articles of the Church of 
England, and this was generally deemed a sufficient 
guarantee for the orthodoxy of the teachers. But 
we are now come to the time when new light broke 
in upon the minds of many, and all old tests proved 
utterly ineffectual. 

* " I shall here take occasion (says Mr. Peirce) to speak a little of this 
coimnittee of thirteen, that the reader may understand somewhat of our 
constitution. At the first liberty of conscience granted, if I am rightly 
informed, by King James II., it was thought necessary that some persons 
should be ajipointed to take care of the building places of worship, and 
other temporal affairs of the Dissenters. The number of these, hy I know 
not what accident, was then thirteen, and has continued so ever since. 
They fill up their number themselves, as any vacancy happens. This 
gave great uneasiness to some of the people, who thought it was regular 
they should be chosen by the whole body. They were never intrusted 
with any thing, that I can understand, but the care of our temporal affairs, 
tho' upon this occasion they thought fit to assume another kind of power, 
without any authority from the body." — Western Inquisition, p. 49. 

2 c 2 



388 



EXETER. 



The controversy commenced in the year 1717 
The pastors were Hallet Withers^ Peirce, and 
Lavington. Lavington was the only one who had 
not a leaning towards liberal views. Those views 
had been partially adopted in Mr. Hallet's academy; 
and there the foundation of the controversy was laid 
so early as the year 1710.* At this time Mr. 
Whiston corresponded with the tutor's eldest son^ 
by whom the opinions of that celebrated man were 
communicated to John Fox^ another inquisitive 
and free-minded student. His own account is too 
interesting to be omitted. 

" I was more intimate with him (Hallet) than with any of the 
rest of the young men, but knew nothing of his notions till our 
class was lectured on Pictet's chapter concerning the Trinity. 
He then laid several books upon that subject in my way, which 
extremely surprised me, for I had always taken this doctrine for 
an undoubted truth, which was never to be examined or called 
in question. I remember what startled me most was the famous 
Mr. Boyse's answer to Emlyn. At that time I had never heard 
of either of their names, and knew nothing of the prosecution of 
the latter, or any part of his story, and therefore could not 
possibly have any bias or prejudice upon me. But the bare 
quotations which Boyse made from Emlyn, in order to answer 
him, seemed to strike so strongly that I began to doubt from 
that moment, notwithstanding my own natural prejudices and 

* At this time the Academy had not been long established. The lead- 
ing incidents in the life of Mr. Hallet, Jun., being mentioned in the history 
of the congregation, a separate memoir will not be needed. His character 
as a teacher has been drawn by Mr. John Fox, of Pljanouth, in papers to 
which I shall often refer. The chief faults imputed to him are an exces- 
sive love of ministerial power, and a disposition to cherish unfriendly feel- 
ings towards a conscientious opponent. Yet his conduct in reference to 
the Exeter controversy indicates the possession of many excellent qualities. 



EXETER. 



389 



all the art and learning of Mr. Boyse. We were about five or 
six of us who understood one another in this affair, but we con- 
versed with great caution and secresj." * 

This account of the first approach to reputed 
heresy is thus corroborated by Mr. Peirce : 

*^ The common vogue of the people is, that there was nothing 
of this doctrine in the city before my coming into it ; that I was 
the first who brought it among them; and abundance of re- 
proaches and untoward wishes have been bestowed upon me 
for this cause. But there is no truth in this report. Dr. Clarke^ 
Mr. Wliiston, and other writers who differ from the common 
notion, had been read here before my coming ; and some few of 
the people, tho' they kept it to themselves, had long before, hy 
only reading their Bibles, been convinced that it was not agree- 
able to the Scriptures." t 

In the year 1715, the subject began to be much 
talked of, both in public and private. The Deity 
of Christ was often disputed, particularly in the 
house of a layman who boarded some of Mr, Hal- 
let's pupils. Rumours that three of the ministers 
disbelieved that doctrine and secretly opposed it, 
were circulated among the citizens. $ In 1717, the 
attention to the question had become so general, 
and the suspicions of Mr. Peirce's orthodoxy so 

* " Memoirs of himself by Mr. John Fox," Mon. Rep., Vol. xvi. p. 131, 
+ Western Inquisition, p. 11. 

X " Account of the Reasons why many of the Citizens of Exeter have 
withdrawn from the ministry of Mr. Joseph Hallet and Mr. James Peirce,'* 
p. 4. This "Account" and "the Western Inquisition" supply most of the 
information in the next few pages. The latter is written by Peirce ; the 
former by one of his opponents. I shall aim to state such facts as are ad- 
mitted on both sides. 



390 



EXETER. 



strong, that he was applied to by three of his most 
influential friends to preach a sermon on the satis- 
faction of Christ, a doctrine which they thought 
must be entirely overthrown by a denial of our 
Lord's deity. With this request Mr. Peirce com- 
plied; and his mode of treating the subject, though 
far from being such as to remove all fears respect- 
ing the soundness of his own creed, tended to re- 
store peace for a short time. But the seeds of dis- 
sension had been sown in a favourable soil; and 
many circumstances occurred which irritated both 
parties, and appeared to render a public collision 
unavoidable. The Exeter Assembly was at this 
period a very important body, and was generally 
considered entitled to take cognizance of such mat- 
ters. It was fully expected that the subject would 
be introduced at their September meeting in this 
year (1717), in reference to the case of Mr. Hubert 
Stogdon, who was said to be "^"very bold in his 
errors," and yet wanted from the Assembly a certifi- 
cate for his ordination.* But the breach was post- 
poned in consequence of Stogdon's receiving a cer- 
tificate from Hallet, Withers, and Peirce, three 
months before the meeting, which enabled him to 
dispense with the sanction of the Assembly, and to 
be ordained among a people in Somersetshire who 
had invited him to be their pastor. Although the 
granting this certificate was censured by the ortho- 
dox, all parties were glad to get Stogdon out of the 
way ; his candour in searching for truth, and his 

* Sec History of the Ashwick eongiegation. 



EXETER. 



391 



manliness in avowing his opinions^ had occasioned 
much of the animosity at Exeter ; and after he was 
gone there was another transient calm. This lasted 
ahout three months. In January, 1718, the lay 
advocates of the new opinions began to boast of 
their numbers and their strength among the minis- 
ters, even defying the Assembly to take cognizance 
of it, It was high time (says one of the other 
party*) to make a public affair of it ; accordingly, 
the committee of thirteen, with several other citizens, 
met, and, after consulting together, deputed four of 
their body to lay the state of the city before their 
ministers, and to desire them to preach in defence 
of the Eternal Deity of Jesus Christ," Mr. Peirce 
says the request was ^^to assert the eternity of the 
Son of God." f At all events, he acted on this oc- 
casion in a manner which no one who values Chris- 
tian Liberty can condemn. He thought himself as 
capable of choosing proper subjects as the com- 
mittee of thirteen or any other section of his con- 
gregation. He told them that he could not venture 
to assert any thing of God which he did not per- 
ceive he had asserted of himself. However, he in- 
troduced the subject in question in one of his 
subsequent sermons. To many persons he gave 
satisfaction, and these united with him in endeavour- 
ing to restore peace. Still, there were a few under 
the guidance of Lavington and two or three country 
ministers, who continued to stir up strife. 

A few months more passed away. The May 

* Account of Reasons, p, 6". f Western Inquisition, p. 50. 



392 



EXETER. 



Assembly (1718) dispersed without noticing the 
affair. Six weeks of the months of July and x^ugust 
were spent by Mr. Peirce in London. He satisfied 
himself with the idea that all was quiet and would 
remain so. Mr. Lavington, however^ availed him- 
self of his colleagues absence to promote new 
schemes of discord. He joined with Mr. Balb of 
Honiton, Mr. Walrond, of Ottery, and several 
others, in exciting the Dissenters of the West 
against the suspected ministers. Mr. Peirce, on his 
return, found "all was in a flame again"; ,the here- 
sies were viewed in a worse light than ever, and 
were certainly to be brought before the Assembly 
in September. A preliminary meeting was held on 
the day before that on which the reverend body for- 
mally met, for the purpose of arranging their pro- 
ceedings. It was proposed that "the growth of 
Arianism rendered it necessary that they should 
purge themselves and clear their reputation to the 
world." Some one expressed his surprise that the 
Exeter ministers were so backward. Mr. Peirce 
replied, that he could not speak without some con- 
cern, seeing he apprehended they were about to sap 
the foundation he stood upon as a Christian, a Pro- 
testant, and a Dissenter ; and in the course of his 
speech he called for a text in which the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost were called the One God. 
The orthodox party only answered by dwelling upon 
consequences. A long discussion ensued, in the 
course of which Mr. Peirce charged a minister 
"who was forward to answer him" with the absur- 



EXETER, 



393 



dity of his prayers, which he had heard him begin 
thus : O Lord God, Jehovah, we know thou art 
Father, Son, and Spirit — we thank thee for giving 
us thy Son — and we pray thee give us thy Spirit." 
Even several of the most orthodox ministers had 
objected to this practice. In connexion with this 
circumstance, Mr. Peirce notices* an accusation 
which one of his brethren had made against him, 
of not giving glory to the Holy Ghost in his dox- 
ologies. The passage affords a fair specimen of 
the objections to Mr. Peirce, and the manner in 
which they were met : 

" The next time we met lie did not reprove me so indirectly, 
but downright censured my practice. I put it then to him, as 
I used to do, whether he had any scripture example for giving 
glory to the Holy Ghost in the many doxologies extant. His 
answer was, that he did not suppose he was left out in those 
doxologies, as tho' the Apostles scrupled the giving glory to 
him ; and that certainly we might as well give glory to him as 
baptize in his name. I told him I supposed the Apostles might 
understand how to draw such a consequence as well as we ; and 
since we do not find they ever did draw it, I thought there 
could be no necessity for it ; and that my practice of giving 
glory to the Father, thro' the Son, or of giving glory to the Son, 
was scriptural and unexceptionable." 

At the preliminary meeting, Mr. Withers made a 
noble speech against bringing any test at all into 
the Assembly, and particularly against the proposed 
declaration — '"I believe the Father, Word, and 
Spirit to be the one God." On the following morn- 

* Western Inquisition, p. 78. 



394 



EXETER. 



ing the Assembly met, and, after prayer, Mr. John 
Ball, of Honiton, commenced by desiring to know 
whether they should declare against the errors of 
those who denied the divinity of the Saviour, and 
made a motion accordingly, which was seconded. 
First, there was a long debate on the expediency of 
discussing the question, which being affirmed, it 
was moved that the particular errors and heresies 
be mentioned, that the brethren might know what 
they had to declare against ; which was not granted. 
It was next resolved that the Declaration should be 
concerning the errors relating to the doctrine of the 
Holy Trinity ; and then followed a long discussion 
on the grand point, " Shall a declaration in words 
of Scripture be considered orthodox"; *^'but this 
point (says Mr. Peirce) could by no means be ob- 
tained." Several other questions were proposed in 
vain, — such as '"the use to be made by the Assem- 
bly of the Declarations they did not like;" or the 
proceedings to be resorted to in consequence of such 
declarations. It was now impossible to continue 
the debate, as the people were waiting at the door 
of the meeting-house to hear the usual lecture, the 
time for which was fully come; and it was there- 
fore agreed that each minister should at once de- 
clare in whatever words he thought fit. Mr. Hallet, 
of Exeter, began; he was followed by Mr. Withers; 
and next came Mr. Peirce. The greater part of 
Mr. Hallet's declaration was in the language of 
Scripture ; it appears that he believed the Father 
to be in some sense Supreme, yet Christ to be God 



EXETER. 



395 



over all, blessed for evermore/' and the Holy Ghost 
to be God, on the ground that '^the temples of 
believers are said to be the temples both of the 
Holy Ghost and of God"; he did not say that he 
believed the Holy Ghost to be a being distinct from 
God, forming the third person in the Trinity, neither 
did he explain the sense in w^hich he received the 
word God when applied to Christ ; he concluded his 
declaration with the words of Mr. Baxter : Two 
things have set the Church on fire, and been the 
plagues of it above a thousand years ; — ^first, enlarg- 
ing our creed and making more fundamentals than 
God ever made; secondly, composing (and so im- 
posing) our creeds and confessions in our own words 
and phrases," &c. Mr. Withers was one degree 
more satisfactory to the dominant party ; he defined 
the heresy of Arius, and sincerely disclaimed it; he 
declared his belief that the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost were one in Deity, nature, essence, and sub- 
stance, but that the New Testament and the most 
primitive Christian writers held forth a distinction 
of persons. Mr. Peirce said, I am not of the 
opinion of Sabellius, Arius, Socinus, or Sherlock. 
I believe there is but one God, and can be no more. 
I believe the Son and Holy Ghost to be divine per- 
sons, but subordinate to the Father : and the unity 
of God is, I think, to be resolved into the Father's 
being the fountain of the divinity of the Son and 
Spirit." Some of the ministers, instead of making 
any declaration of their own, expressed their agree- 
ment with Mr. Hallet ; others used the words of the 



396 



EXETER. 



Assembly's Catechism, besides a great variety of 
phrases of their own invention; three members of 
the body refused to make any declaration at all, 
and disowned the authority of any body of men to 
demand their opinion. At length it was recorded 
by the Scribe, at the dictation of Mr. Lavington, — 
"'Tis the general sense of this Assembly — That 
there is hut One Living and True God; and that 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are the One God'' 

No objection was formally made by the Assembly 
to any of the declarations. The ministers, however, 
returned to their homes, with the belief that, not- 
withstanding all that had been done, Arianism 
would spread. And so it did. Soon after the ac- 
count of the discussion was communicated to the 
citizens, the Exeter press teemed with pamphlets in 
defence of the ^'new heresy." From the account 
given by the Trinitarian party, it appears that the 
authors of these productions, whose names were 
unknown, held most of the opinions of the modern 
Unitarians. Many of the disputants on this side of 
the question were laymen. It cannot be denied 
that, at this period, their sentiments were expressed 
with much greater clearness than those of the hete- 
rodox ministers ; whatever were ^the actual conclu- 
sions to which the latter had come on the points at 
issue, there was great ambiguity in some of their 
public declarations. They were certainly influenced 
in some measure by the dread of being burthened 
with those calumnious accusations which have been, 
in all ages, heaped upon men who have ventured to 



EXETER. 



397 



wander from the beaten tracks of theology, and 
which^ at the time in question, were peculiarly 
dangerous to the interests, the reputation, and the 
usefulness of Christian ministers. By Mr. Laving- 
ton and his friends, the anonymous pamphlets to 
which I have adverted were harshly denounced as 
blasphemous, and the arguments of the authors were 
met, sometimes by similar weapons, but frequently 
by fierce invectives and threats of present and 
eternal punishment. It was impossible that the 
ministers should escape the storm ; accordingly, two 
months after the Assembly met, the committee of 
thirteen once more applied to the ministers *^'to 
know what they did believe about these matters 
themselves." The result of this interview and other 
circumstances connected with it were so unsatis- 
factory, that '^the citizens (to use the words of the 
Trinitarian writer) thought it high time to shift for 
themselves, and sent to some eminent ministers of 
London for advice, whose counsel was, — to call in 
some neighbouring ministers, who could best judge 
of these matters upon the place." This plan was 
adopted; the ministers met and drew up their opi- 
nion, which was, in fact, that the orthodox ought 
to separate themselves from Messrs. Peirce, Hallet, 
and Withers. Withers prevented the committee 
from acting upon the opinion as it regarded himself, 
by giving the required satisfaction ; but the others 
continued firm. Accordingly, the day after these 
seven ministers had consulted together, and formed 
the above resolutions, three of the four proprietors of 



398 



EXETER. 



the chapels, went, in their own name, to the place 
where Messrs. Peirce and Hallet usually preached, 
and took the keys of it into their own possession. 
They sent no message to their ministers to inform 
them of their intentions ; and when Mr. Peirce 
applied to one of them to know what he was to do, 
all the answer he could obtain was, that he might 
preach an old sermon in the Little Meeting. The 
week following, a general meeting was held of all 
the proprietors or trustees of the three chapels, at 
which they came to a resolution, that Messrs. Peirce 
and Hallet should preach no more in any of them.* 
Mr. Peirce complained that this was altogether 
unfair — ^that the seven neighbouring ministers had 
all along been decidedly opposed to him — and that 
the proprietors of the meeting-house acted by them- 
selves and did not call the people together. These 
were forcible objections; but it was urged, on the 
other side, that conferences had on various occasions 
been declined by Mr. Peirce, and that the proprie- 
tors not only thought the doctrine of the Trinity 
and the deity of Christ were too great matters to 
be offered to the vote or made the subject of conten- 
tion," but had good reasons for believing the majo- 
rity approved of their conduct. 

A calm review of the whole case suggests various 
apologies for the part which was acted by the Trini- 
tarians. They attached incalculable value to their 
opinions, and saw that those opinions were in danger 
of being subverted by the influence of the ministers 

* p. D. M., Vol. ii. p. 448. 



EXETER. 399 



whom they invited and long considered orthodox. 
They also saw that the places of worship which 
they had built at considerable expense^ were gra- 
dually becoming subservient to the dissemination of 
views which many called blasphemous and fatal. 
Moreover^ their fears were increased by the well- 
known fact that what they deemed heresy was not 
openly inculcated, but that some friends of Peirce 
and Hallet carried on a secret mode of proselytizing 
which appeared likely to be more hurtful to their 
cause than open warfare. And it on one side, it 
be asserted that Mr. Lavington and his party were 
guilty of deceitful transactions, it cannot be denied, 
on the other, that the heterodox occasionally con- 
cealed their opinions on important topics, and en- 
deavoured to give them a popular colouring. That 
the heterodox ministers wished for peace is very 
evident; but it is a question whether, in pursuing 
what they believed to be a Christian object, they did 
not sometimes resort to unworthy compromises. 
These considerations are perfectly compatible with a 
full appreciation of the difficulties in which they 
were placed — with high admiration of many parts of 
their conduct — and with a firm persuasion that the 
cause of religious truth and religious liberty is 
deeply indebted to them. In the first place, they 
dared to inquire and decide for themselves, when 
it was the universal custom to be guided implicitly 
by established formularies, and they subsequently 
maintained their convictions, and advocated the 
great principle of the sufficiency of Scripture, 



400 



EXETER. 



amidst the clamours of ignorance, prejudice, and 
bigotry, at tlie risk of losing friends, reputation, 
means of subsistence, — all, indeed, that most men 
value ! 

In this trying emergency, Mr. Peirce and Mr. 
Hallet were supported by many who yalued their 
ministry and admired their general conduct. They 
therefore immediately formed a new society; and 
haying, with much difficulty, procured a temporary 
place of worship, it was opened on the fifteenth of 
March, 1719, the first Lord's day after the eject- 
ment. The sermon was preached by Mr. Peirce ; 
it is entitled '"The Eyil and Cure of Diyisions," 
and while breathing a generous spirit of forbear- 
ance, inculcates sentiments of Christian liberty 
which cannot be too much admired.* About a 

* The following extract will shew the spirit of this sermon : " In short, 
we glory not in men, ancient or modem, or in any other name but that of 
Christ ; his disciples, and his alone, we pretend to be. We neither do nor 
wUl call any man upon earth ^Master. Plain, undisguised Christianity, as 
'tis contained in the Scriptures, is the religion we profess. We set up in 
opposition to none, but are ready to receive all good Christians, and join 
with all, so far as their worship is agreeable to the sacred rule ; and accord- 
ing to that alone do we desire to order our ovra. 

" It has been artfully insinuated, that our design is here to preach upon 
speculative points, and to teach a new doctiine, and a new rehgion ; than 
which nothing is farther from our intention. You can't but know, that 
'tsvas never my custom among you, to entertain my auditors with abstruse 
matters of speculation of any kind ; and 'tss'as a more than ordinary impor- 
tunity, that prevaU'd with me tviice only to treat of such. And I have 
much satisfaction in looking back upon the general course of my preach- 
ing, which has been design'd to explain the Holy Scriptures, and inculcate 
the duties and virtues of the Christian life ; nor can I see reason for making 
any alteration in that respect. And therefore, as we dreaded the division 
before it was made, and were very vsilling to go on in the way in which we 
were, so we profess we have no intention to alter our preachmg, now the 
division is made, supposing that it should never be healed. I declare, I 



EXETER, 



401 



year afterwards, his CQiigregation erected a new and 
more commodious edifice, called the Mint Meeting. 
Here he officiated only about six years ; his life, 
which had been much imbittered by the treatment 
he had experienced, terminated in 1726.* Mr. 
Peirce-j* and Mr. Hallet were succeeded by the son 
of the latter — who was the author of many valuable 
tracts, but better known in consequence of his 
Critical Notes and Observations on the Scrip- 
tures." He it was with whom Whiston corre- 
sponded twenty-five years previously, and in whose 
ingenuous mind were planted those principles which 

set not up in opposition to any opinion, or any men who do not invade my 
Christian liberty, nor to teach any other religion than that which was 
from the beginning, and which I have taught all along from my first 
coming, when my endeavours were more acceptable." — The Evil and Cure 
of Divisions" pp. 31 — 33. 

* We learn the number of the congregation at this period, from an 
interesting letter written by the learned Samuel Crellius to La Croze, 
discovered by the Rev. James Yates, in the Thesaurus Epistolicus La 
Crozianus, and communicated by that gentleman through the Christian 
Reformer (N. S.), Vol. i. p. 822. The letter is dated Amsterdam, July 17, 
1727; it was written after a visit to London, where the author had just 
published, under the name of Artimonius, a Latin treatise on the Proem 
of the Gospel of John. His account of the London Unitarians of that 
period, the kind treatment he received from the most celebrated orthodox 
theologians of the Church of England, and his interviews with Venn, 
Waterland, and Sir Isaac Newton, is extremely interesting. With regard 
to this city he says, " But at Exeter the Presbyterians do not allow Arians 
in their body, on which account the Arians, to the number of about three 
hundred, have formed a separate congregation, and have their own preach- 
ers. There they meet openly and in peace, to attend sermons and then* 
sacred rites, without being disturbed by the magistrate. James Peirce, a 
man of first-rate learning, who died last year, was their minister." 

t On the death of Mr. Peirce, in 1726, the congregation at the Mint 
Meeting proposed to invite Mr. Emlyn, who, hearing of their intentions, 
excused himself on account of his feebleness and advancing years. — Mon. 
Repos., Vol. xii. p. 523. 

2d 



402 



EXETER. 



subsequently excited so much attention.* His as- 
sistant in the duties of the ministry at the Mint 
Meeting was Mr. Thomas Jeffrey^ who published 
several useful treatises on the Nature and Perfection 
of the Christian Eevelation. The next minister 
was Mr. William West^ a good scholar and an ami- 
able man, noted for his great attention to mathe- 
matical studies, and for that closeness of argument 
which they tend to produce. He was succeeded by 
Mr. David Williams, who introduced the Liturgy 
used at Liverpool into this society; he afterwards 
removed to London, where he opened a chapel in 
Margaret Street, Cavendish Square; he had the 
honour of being the Founder of the Literary Fund. 
On his removal, in 1770, Mr. Joseph Bretland was 
chosen, and the Liturgy was laid aside. After offi- 
ciating about two years he resigned, and was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. John Hogg. The duration of this 
gentleman's ministry was shortened by his engaging 
in business, and in 1789 Mr. Bretland was re-elected. 
In 1792 Mr. B. again introduced the Liturgy, at the 
request of the congregation ; but at the end of an- 
other year he felt his mind oppressed with difficulties 

* Three Joseph Hallets, — father, son, and grandson, succeeded each 
other at Exeter. The sound judgment of the last is shewn by the cir- 
cumstance, that there is scarcely a conjectural emendation of the Hebrew 
text proposed by him, which was not afterwards found by Dr. Kennicott, 
in some manuscript, to have been an ancient reading. Neither the learn- 
ing nor the candour displayed in his *' Notes and Observations," preserved 
him from a violent attack from Mr. Enty, who was chosen by the Trini- 
tarian party on his father's ejectment, and to whom he replied, in a pam- 
phlet, the following year. He also published, in 1 720, an ingenious tract 
to prove that the unity of God is not inconsis;tent with the deity of Christ, 
in answer to Dr. Waterland. — Eng. Prcsb., p. 127. 



EXETER. 



403 



in the use of it, and again resigned his office. Soon 
after his first entrance on his duties at the Mint, he 
avowed Unitarian principles from his pulpit. He 
then stood alone, in the West of England, as the 
preacher of the true unity of God and humanity of 
Christ, and was exposed in consequence to peculiar 
ohloquy. Mr. Bretland was succeeded, in 1794, by 
Mr. Theophilus Edwards, who continued to be 
pastor of the society till the year 1810, when it was 
united to that of George s Meeting. Of Mr, Edwards 
a short memoir will be given under the head of 
Tavistock, where he was settled twenty-two years. 
On the sale of the chapel to the Wesleyans, it was 
agreed that the monument to the memory of its 
founder, which adorned its walls, sliould be re- 
moved to George's Meeting. The society which he 
formed had existed about ninety years, on the sim- 
ple and scriptural principles stated in his opening 
sermon; and when its members parted with the 
house of prayer in which he had exerted himself in 
the cause of Christian truth and liberty, it was to 
join a larger body supporting the same cause, and 
partly consisting of descendants of those by whom 
he was ejected. 

To return to the memorable division in 1719, — Mr. 
Peirce and Mr. Hallet were succeeded by Mr. John 
Enty, of Plymouth, and Mr. Walter Furze, of Bristol. 
The old congregations continued to act in concert 
on all important occasions, but had no communica- 
tion with their hereti'cal brethren at the Mint Meet- 
ing, Enty and Furze were considered pastors of the 

2 D 2 



404 



EXETER. 



congregation at James's, though they occasionally 
officiated at Bow, and probably at the Little Meet- 
ing. Furze removed in 1724^ and was succeeded 
by Mr. James Green; and Enty's death, in 1743, 
was the means of introducing Mr. Stephen Tow- 
good. In 1749 his cousin, Mr. Micaijah Towgood, 
was chosen by the united congregations on the 
death of Mr. Green. The election of this gentle- 
man is an important event in the history of the 
Exeter Dissenters, whether we consider the length 
of his ministry or the moral efficacy of his services 
and character. He had relinquished the doctrine 
of the Trinity when he accepted the invitation from 
the societies assembling at the James's and Bow 
Meetings ; this circumstance was one of some diffi- 
culty in the minds of the people, as well as in his 
own; and for a long time he found the greatest 
prudence necessary to overcome the impediments 
which his Arianism presented. *^'Mr. Towgood 
(says his biographer) never gave up what he 
thought an essential article of faith in order to 
please men ; but by his justly acquired reputation 
as a writer, by diligent and affectionate assiduity in 
the various branches of the pastoral office, and by 
the force of Christian meekness, condescension, and 
a readiness to do them all kinds of good offices, 
he conciliated their affection and esteem, and con- 
strained them to forego their objections."* The first 
important alteration accomplished by this judicious 
reformer, was in the admission of members to the 

* Manning's Life of Towgood, p. 43. 



EXETER. 



405 



Lord's table. He found that his new flock had 
been used to require a more particular examination 
of the candidate than he thought the Scriptures 
countenanced. In his opinion, *^'that examination 
tended to discourage meek, humble, and modest 
persons, while it rendered the communion easily 
accessible to men of bold and forward dispositions, 
who were tempted to declare more than they really 
experienced, lest the church should reject them. He 
esteemed a Christian life a very sufficient and a 
much better rule, because he did not find the Scrip- 
tures required any other ; and if the society were 
satisfied of this, he thought it not material by what 
means it received the information. From this time, 
therefore, it was left to the ministers to converse 
privately with the candidate, and inquire into his 
knowledge of the nature and design of this ordi- 
nance, and whether his views in desiring to join in 
it were sincere and upright. When the ministers 
were satisfied on these points, they mentioned the 
name of the person one month preceding his admis- 
sion." Mr. Stephen Towgood and Mr. Micaijah 
Towgood continued to officiate in James's Meeting, 
pursuing the same liberal course of acting, till the 
year 1760, when the society removed to the new 
meeting, called George's, where it continued to 
enjoy their services many years. 

We now revert to the history of the Bow congre- 
gation. At the time of the controversy, its minis- 
ters were Mr. Withers and Mr. Lavington. Withers 
died in 1729, and was succeeded by Mr. Walrond, 



406 



EXETER. 



of Ottery, who had taken an active part in the 
'^Western Inquisition." Lavington, who found him 
a congenial associate^ lived till 1759^ when no suc- 
cessor was chosen, the two churches being supplied 
by the three surviving ministers. One of these was 
Mr. Abraham Tozer, who had succeeded Walrond 
in 1755 ; and although the three ministers preached 
by rotation at the two meeting-houses, Mr. Tozer 
continued regularly to administer the Lord's Supper 
at Bow, and Stephen and Micaijah Towgood at 
George's. In the year 1776, the two congregations 
invited Mr. Manning to be an assistant to the latter 
gentlemen — ^the elder of whom dying in the follow- 
ing year, he was chosen co-pastor with Mr. M. 
Towgood, and from this time the two societies have 
been still more closely united. 

The Bow meeting-house was taken down in 1795. 
In reference to the meeting of the Western Unitarian 
Society, held within its walls the preceding year, 
there was a curious correspondence between Coun- 
sellor White, one of the Trustees of George's, and 
Dr. Toulmin. The latter had given a notice, by 
request of Mr. Kenrick, for whom he officiated at 
George's, that the meeting would be held in that 
place. The Trustees, for some reason not explained, 
assembled on the day after the notice was given, 
were unanimously of opinion that the house should 
not be opened on the occasion, and gave directions 
accordingly. A note was then sent to Mr. Kenrick, 
from the Trustees of the Bow Meeting, inviting him 
and his friends to make that use of the Bow 



EXETER. 



407 



meeting-house on the morrow which their ancestors 
had been accustomed to glory in^ viz. worshiping 
the Great God according to the dictates of their 
own consciences."* The circumstances in which the 
invitation was given enhanced its value. It was at 
the time when the French Revolution and the Bir- 
mingham Riots had made some Dissenters timid 
and compromising. The illustrious Priestley, too 
conscious of the importance of his sentiments to 
conceal them, and too well convinced that the 
manly avowal of them in his own country would 
endanger his liberty and life, had just fled to the 
shores of the New World ! Moreover, the Western 
Unitarian Society assumed a decided tone; it con- 
sidered every practice as idolatrous which attribut- 
ed any of the prerogatives of the Deity to another 
and its preamble was so framed that the Arians, who 
were then numerous at Exeter and other towns in the 
West, could not consistently become members. All 
these circumstances render the offer of the Bow 
meeting-house for the use of the society worthy of 
no common praise. \ 

It was not long before the congregation at 

* This correspondence was published, together with the sei-mon preached 
before the Society, by the Rev. T. Reynell. 

t In connexion with the feeling on the subject of Dr. Priestley's unpo- 
pularity, it should be recorded here that the Exeter Assembly of Ministers, 
at their half-yearly meeting in Septembei', 1791, voted an admirable 
address to that excellent man, in reference to his late sufferings. The 
address was forwarded by Mr. Bretland — one of the warmest admirers of 
the Doctor's character and talents. — See Rutt's edition of Priestley's 
Works ; Life, Vol. i. Part ii., p. 154. The same interesting volume con- 
tains an address to Dr. Priestley from Protestant Dissenters in Bristol and 
Bath, and the reply addressed to Dr. Estlin. This appears to have been 
the only congregational address in the West of England. 



408 



EXETER. 



George s Meeting imbibed a similar spirit. Mr. 
Kenrick^ who succeeded Mr. Towgood in 1784, be- 
came a decided Unitarian, and, though living in 
perfect harmony with his colleague, often inculcated 
Unitarian sentiments. His labours, however, as 
one of the ministers, had no exclusive reference to 
points of doctrine ; he laid the surest foundation 
for the future welfare of the society by diligently 
and judiciously imparting knowledge to the young. 
Ey his efforts, a congregational library was formed 
for the use of his classes, who, on their part, gave 
many proofs of attachment and gratitude to their 
affectionate instructor. On the sudden removal of 
this excellent man, the congregation elected one 
whose greatest delight was to carry on the useful 
plans of his predecessor. The settlement of Dr. 
Carpenter was attended by favourable circum- 
stances ; he had made an explicit avowal of Unita- 
rian sentiments, and was yet unanimously invited ; 
the congregation had acted with the full concur- 
rence of Mr. Manning; and all parties publicly re- 
solved to co-operate in instructing the young. Dr. 
Carpenter remained at Exeter twelve years. His 
labours in the city in forming and maintaining in- 
stitutions for the diffusion of useful knowledge are 
still remembered by many. To the cause of Unita- 
rianism, not only in his immediate neighbourhood, 
but throughout the West of England, great benefit 
accrued from his active and unwearied exertions. * 

* One controversy in which Dr. Carpenter was engaged, particularly 
requires to be mentioned. In the year 1814, soon after the passing of 
Mr. Smith's bill for the repeal of the penal laws against the Unitarians, 



EXETER. 



409 



On Dr. Carpenter s removal to Bristol, the con- 
gregation elected Mr. W. Hincks, who had received 
his education at Manchester College, York, and 
who, after devoting several years to the ministry at 
Exeter and Liverpool, accepted the situation of 
Mathematical Tutor in the same college. 

The next minister was Mr. Acton. This gentle- 
man received his education for the ministry under 
Dr. Morell, of Brighton, and officiated a short time 

the Bishop of St. David's published, in the form of "a brief memorial," his 
regret that such laws had been repealed, and his belief that they ought to 
be restored. This uncharitable production was quickly followed by an- 
other from the same pen, entitled " An Address to persons calling them- 
selves Unitarians," advertised in an Exeter newspaper, with harsh remarks 
on what the advertiser called " the debasing, degrading doctrines of So- 
cinianism." Dr. Carpenter deemed it right to publish, in reply, a state- 
ment of the Unitarian faith, which produced a letter from the Rev. Mr. 
Cleeve, a clergyman of the Established Church. The editor of one of the 
Exeter papers (Flindell's Western Luminary) having thrown open his 
columns to the disputants, a controversy ensued, which extended through 
several months, and called forth in its progress many additional pens and 
much interest in the western counties. It was at length sufyposed to be 
concluded by an article from the editor, professing to be an impartial 
summing up. At that period, however, there happened to be living in 
Devonshire a clergyman, since celebrated as a witty author, who could 
not resist the temptation (though the subject as well as some of the facts 
were against him) to write the foUov/ing lines in a subsequent paper : 

Cleeve — Dennis — Carpenter — agree ! 
And fully prove a Trinity ; 
For, in their writings, all may see 
Not one incomprehensible — but three ! 

Yet Flindell deemed the task undone, 
So finished what these scribes begun, 
And shewed more clearly than the sun 
Not three incomprehensibles — but one ! 

See Carpenter's Edition of " Letters on the Trinitarian Controversy in 
the Exeter Newspapers" ; the Mon. Rcpos., Vol. x. p. 192 j and Colton's 
Lacon, Vol. ii. p. 70. 



410 



EXETER. 



at Walthamstow. Amidst numerous changes Mr. 
Manning remained ; but at length his time of depar- 
ture arrived; he died in September^ 1831, having 
filled the pastoral office here fifty-five years. On the 
death of Mr. Manning, Mr. Cropper, who had been 
educated at Glasgow, and some time minister at 
Bolton, in Lancashire, became the colleague of Mr. 
Acton. Under the ministry of these gentlemen the 
congregation maintains its high character. 

About two years since, a liturgical form of wor- 
ship was introduced. The usual services are in the 
morning and afternoon ; during the winter months 
there is an additional service in the evening, when 
lectures are delivered which excite considerable at- 
tention.* 

The members of this society support the usual 
congregational institutions. They have a good 
chapel library, which was formed at the suggestion 
of Mr. Kenrick. Their Sunday-school was estab- 
lished in 1812, and consists at present of sixty boys 
and fifty-six girls. Their fellowship-fund was pro- 
bably instituted soon after Dr. Thomson, of Leeds, 
drew attention to this method of aiding the cause 
of Unitarian Christianity. The congregation at 
George's Meeting have also the management of the 
Protestant Dissenters' Charity School, established 
in the year 1710; thirty boys and twenty-six girls 
at present attend on the Sunday at George's Meet- 

* Mr. Acton has published in one small volume, " Six Lectures on the 
Dignity, Office, and Work of our Lord" ; another, in the form of a pam- 
phlet, "on the Religious Opinions of Milton, Locke, and Newton"; and 
several single sermons. 



EXETER. 



411 



ing, and are educated during the week at the school 
in Paris Street; they are also annually clothed. 

The congregation have a burial-ground in another 
part of the city. In the lecture-room at George's 
Meeting is a tablet^ with the following inscription : 

This Monument is erected 
by mournful friends 
as a lasting testimony of their high regard 
to the memory and honour 
OF THE Reverend, Pious, and Learned 
Mr. James Peirce, 
a most worthy and indeared Pastor of this Church, 
a rational, judicious, and affectionate Preacher, 

A VERY laborious AND SAGACIOUS INTERPRETER 

OF THE Holy Scriptures, 
A sincere lover and strenuous defender of truth, 

A COURAGIOUS SUFFERER WHILE LIVING 
FOR MAINTAINING THE DoCTRINES OF THE GoSPEL 

OF Christ, 

AND FOR ASSERTING THE LIBERTIES OF CHRISTIANS ; 
AND AFTER DEATH, DENIED A JUST ENCOMIUM 

ON HIS Tomb in Leonardos Church Yard 

BY THE Rector of the Parish.* 
The great good man departed hence 
IN Peace, 
March 30th, 1726, 
IN THE 53rd year of his age. 

Philipp. I. 21. 
Rev. XIV. 13. 

"To ME TO LIVE IS ChRIST, AND TO DIE IS GAIN." 

"Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord." 

* A copy of this encomium, both in Latin and Enghsh, will be found in 
the memoir of Mr. Peirce. The above inscription was sent me, with the 
particulars relating to the schools, by Mr. B. P. Pope, of Exeter. 



m 



EXETER. 



JAMES'S MEETING. 

Joseph Hallet ]670 — 1689. 

George Trosse 1689—1713. 

Joseph Hallet (Second) 1690 — 1719. 

James Peirce 1713—1719. 

John Enty 1719 — 1743. 

\Yalter Furze 1719 — 1724. 

James Green 1724 — 1749. 

Stephen Towgood 1743—1760. 

MicAijAH Towgood 1750 — 1760. 

BOW MEETING. 

Robert Atkins, M.A 1662—1685. 

Robert Gaylard 1662 — 

John Hoppin 1662—1704. 

Benjamin Hooper 1662 — 

John Withers 1704 — 1729. 

John Lavington 1715 — 1759. 

John Walrond 1729 — 1755. 

Abraham Tozer 1755 — 1794. 

MINT MEETING. 

James Peirce 1719 — 1726. 

Joseph Hallet (Second) 1719—1722. 

Thomas Jeffrey 1728 — 17 

Joseph Hallet (Third) 1722—1744. 

William West 1744 — 1761. 

David Williams 1761 — 1770. 

Joseph Bretland 1770 — 1772. 

John Hogg 1772—1789. 

Joseph Bretland 1789 — 1793. 

Theophilus Edwards 1794 — 1810. 



EXETER. 



413 



GEORGE'S MEETING. 



Stephen TowGOOD 1760 — 1777. 

MiCAiJAH TowGOOD 1760—1782. 

James Manning 1776 -1831. 

Timothy Kenrick 1784—1804. 

Lant Carpenter, LL.D 180.5—1817. 

William Hincks 1817—1822. 

Henry Acton. 1822. 

John Cropper, M.A 1832. 



Lewis Stuckley. — This gentleman was an Independent ; 
but his connexion with the Exeter Dissenters requires a short 
account of him. He was of an ancient and honourable family 
in Devonsliire. His brother was Sir T. Stuckley, and one of 
his ancestors was standard-bearer to Queen Elizabeth. It is 
said that, belonging to the family at one period, were thirteen 
manors within sight of the gate-house of the mansion at West 
Worlington. Mr. Stuckley preached a short time at several 
places before his removal to Exeter. To this city he came 
from Great Torrington, and began to gather a Congregational 
church about the year 1650. His station was the Cathedral ; 
by conforming he might have filled a high office, but in 1062 
rendered himself ineligible for all further preferment. After his 
ejectment, he founded the congregation in Castle Lane. Some 
time before his death, which occurred in 1687, he removed to 
Bideford, where he preached occasionally. He was indefatiga- 
ble in the work of the ministry, and wrote, when near his end, 
a book entitled " A Gospel glass representing the miscarriages 
of English Protestants." He also published " Manifest Truth 
against Mr. Tobie Allein." * 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 364. 



414 



EXETER. 



Robert Atkins was bom at Chard in 1626, and educated 
at Wadham College, Oxford. For some time he was one of 
Cromwell's chaplains ; but, growing wearjof the office, removed 
to a benefice of £300, per annum, at Coopersale, in Essex. He 
found this place overrun with sects, but after a while so con- 
vinced and gained them as not to have one Dissenter left in his 
parish. His health obliging him to remove, he was invited bj 
Mr. Ford, of the Cathedral, to Exeter, and preached at St. Sid- 
well's while the choir was preparing for him. When it was 
finished, he had a vast auditory; he was generally esteemed one 
of the best preachers in the West of England. 

Mr. Atkins was expelled fi-om the Cathedral in 1660, in con- 
sequence of some disagreement with the choir. He deemed it 
of more importance that the thousands who sought to hear a 
sermon should be gratified, than that the singing service should 
be kept up in its ancient splendour and glorj. The choristers 
and other powers that were thought differently ; and INIr. Atkins 
therefore removed to St. John's Church, where he officiated till 
the Bartholomew Day. He then preached in private as oppor- 
tunity offered, and was several times apprehended ; on one 
occasion he was committed, but on another the maj'or and jus- 
tices could not, by promises or threats, get any of the multitude 
who gathered about his house to take him to prison. 

The majority of the chamber were, however, generally tole- 
rant towards him. Although an upright man, his manners were 
concihatory, and his principles moderate and loyal. He enjoyed 
the friendship of two successive bishops ; and some of the ma- 
gistrates who were severe against other Dissenting ministers, 
favoured him. It is reported that he once proved, by 1 Cor. iv. 
15, tbat those ministers who beget converts to Christ, may be 
justly entitled Fathers in God. This feat may have tended to 
recommend him to the Bishops. In his farewell sermon at St. 
John's, which was transcribed for his friends, he thus defends 
his brethren from the charge of disloyalty : " We will do any 
thing for his ^lajesty but sin. We will hazard any thing for 



EXETER. 



415 



him but our souls. We hope we could die for him ; only we 
d^re not be damned for him. We make no question, however 
we shall be accounted of here, we shall be found loyal and obe- 
dient subjects at our appearance before God's tribunal." 

Mr. Atkins died in 1685, aged 59. His funeral sermon was 
preached by Mr. Trosse.* 

Joseph Hallet was a native of Bridport. He had no Uni- 
versity education, but, by his own industry, acquired consider 
able learning. He was an accomplished critic in the Hebrew 
and Greek languages, and an excellent divine. At the time of 
the civil wars, he was minister at Hinton St. George, in Somer- 
setshire. The following certificate of his ordination indicates 
the custom of the times : 

Inasmuch as Mr. Joseph Hallet, student in Divinity, hath addressed 
himself to the Classical Presbytery of Sarum, within the province of 
the County of Wilts, according to the form of Church government 
established by authority of Parliament of August 29, 1648, for the or- 
dination of ministers by Classical Presbytere, desiringe to be ordained 
a preaching Presbyter, for that he is called to the work of the ministry 
in the parish church of Hinton St. George, in the County of Somer- 
set ; and hath exhibited to the Presbytery sufficient testimonial (now 
remaining in their custody) of his competent age, of his proficiency in 
his studies, and of his faire and direct calling to the forementioned 
charge in the county aforesaid, by an order from the Committee of 
the said county ; we, the Ministers of the said Presbytery, have (by 
appointment thereof) examined him according to the sense of the said 
form of Church government, and finding him to be duely qualified 
and gifted for that holy office and employment, (no just exception 
being made against his ordination or admission,) we have approved 
him ; and accordingly in the parish church of St. Thomas in Sarum, 
upon the day and yeare hereafter expressed, we have proceeded 
solemnly to set him apart to the office of a preaching Presbyter and 
work of the ministry, with fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands, 
and do hereby (as far as concerneth us) actually admit him to the said 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 365. 



416 



EXETER. 



charge, there to perfomi all the offices and duties of a faithful Minister 
of Jesus Christ. In witness whereof we have hereto subscribed our 
hands this t%venty eighth of October, Anno Dom. 1652. 

Philip Pynckney. John Conant. 

John Strickland. 
Nath. Giles. 
Jo. Watts. 
Matthew Hurd.* 

Mr. Hallet removed from Hiiitou to Chisleborough. On his 
ejectment he retired to Bridport, and lived a short time in the 
house of his wife's father. Here he made himself useful to 
several Nonconformist societies ; after his removal to a house of 
his own, he preached several years at Bradpole, a parish in the 
neighbourhood. He was invited to Exeter about the jear 1672, 
and continued there till his death in 1688. 

Mr. Hallet was twice in the Southgate Prison for his Non- 
conformity. His confinement shattered his constitution, and 
brought upon him hypochondriacal affections, which sometimes 
deprived him of his reason. But he was spared to be very use- 
ful among his people, and was generally considered a diligent 
student, a faithful and affectionate pastor, and a clear, fer^'ent, 
and impressive preacher. The last subject on which he preached 
was Deut. xxxii. i, the beginning of the song of Moses, and his 
discourse contained many passages peculiarly appropriate to his 
own case. 

He published several sermons on " Christ's Ascension into 
Heaven," and " Twenty-seven Queries to the Quakers." Mr. 
Trosse preached his funeral sermon. 



George Trosse succeeded the subject of the last memoir. 
His life presented a strange contrast of complete depravity and 
exalted virtue. The following outline is taken from an account 



English Presbyterian, 



EXETER. 



417 



written bj himself, and a sermon preached by his colleague 
(Mr. Joseph Hallet, Jun.) on his death. * 

He says of hunself,—-" I was born in Exon, Oct. 25tli, in the year 
1631, of Wealthy Parents, honourable Citizens. My Father was by 
Profession a Counsellour, and my mother the daughter of one who 
had twice been Chief Magistrate of the City. They gave me the usual 
Education of those Days amongst such as were no Friends to Puritans ; 
They were averse to the Placing me with such, either to be bred up 
in Religion or Learning." 

His youth, from a very early period to the age of fifteen, was 
spent at the Grammar School. He had a quick apprehension, 
and made greater progress in learning than most of his school- 
fellows : 

** But this course of Hfe (he continues) did not so well please me, 
nor the Devil as I may well suppose. For, having a roving fancy, a 
Desire to get Riches, and to live luxuriously in the World, I was bent 
upon Merchandize and travelling into Foreign Parts. But then in 
this I had no other motive, but the Satisfying the Great Lords and 
Commanders of the unregenerate world, the Lusts of the Flesh, the 
Lusts of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life." 

When he left school, he was in practice an Atheist, and pro- 
fessedly an intense enemy to Puritans. He kept vain company, 
played much at cards, scoffed at godliness, and was a welcome 
companion to the profane. 

"Then he resided awhile (says Mr. Hallet) at Morlaix, in France, 
where he was more extravagantly wicked and vitious than he had been 
before. A while after he fixed at London, and there he was still the 
same person; spending his time mostly in Taverns, Gaming and 
Drinking to Excess. In this sensual Course of Life he continued for 
some considerable time; till at length God convulsed his mind, 

* The Life of the Reverend Mi-. Geo. Trosse, Late Minister of the Gos- 
pel in the City of Exon, Written by Himself, and PubHshed according to 
his Order. To which is added, the Sermon preached at his funeral by J. 
H. Exon. 1714. 

2 E 



418 



EXETER. 



awaked him out of his Stupidity, and made him, in some measure, 
sensible of his great Wickedness." 

It appears that from London he went abroad again, and spent 
some time at Oporto. On returning to his native city, where 
he lived in his mother's house, his perpetual intemperance and 
other vices led to a loss of reason. Three times he was con- 
fined in a state of outrageous madness, and on two occasions 
sent to the house of an eminent physician at Glastonbury, by 
whose instrumentality he was restored. During these dreadful 
inflictions, he fancied he saw sights and heard sounds which 
reproved him for his evil courses, and summoned him to engage 
in the work of repentance and reformation. He often relapsed 
into his bad habits ; but at length it pleased God to make a per- 
manent impression upon him. When he was about twenty-six 
years of age, he accompanied one of his cousins to Oxford ; 
there he met with a reformed acquaintance, who had com- 
menced a studious life and who prevailed upon him to follow 
his example. He was entered a Gentleman Commoner in Pem- 
broke College, and spent some years in diligent study, reading 
many volumes of Latin authors, especially Divines, such as 
Zanchy, Camero, Paraus, &c., and Greek historians, as Thucy- 
dides, Herodotus, &c. He had a master to teach him the ele- 
ments of Hebrew, and eventually he read his Hebrew Bible 
through several times. Nor did Mr. Trosse remain unskilled 
in " Rhetorique, Logick, Phy sicks, Etliicks, and Systemes of 
Divinity." All this he mentioned not to boast of his learning, 
but to magnify God's goodness in so wonderfully composing 
his head. 

The picture he draws of Oxford as a place of Christian 
teaching, about the year 1660, is now somewhat curious. He 
blesses God for the means of religious improvement he possessed 
in the University. He records his attendance at Dr. Conant's 
Lecture on Fridays, Dr. Harriss's Catechetical Lecture on 
Tuesdays, and the Lecture of the Canons of Christ Church on 
Thursdays. 



EXETER. 419 

"Then (he adds) Religion was in its Glory in the University, and 
was a Qualification for Respect and Advancement. Most of our Halls 
and Colleges had Religious Governours ; so had ours, Avho was Dr. 
Langiey, a person greatly favouring and encouraging such as lived in 
the fear of God. He frequently administered the Lord's Supper to a 
select number of Collegiates. In our College-Hall, every Lord's day, 
in the evening, before Supper, we had a Repetition of Sermons and 
Solemn Prayer, by the Vice President or some one or other of the 
Fellows. Besides which, after supper, all Collegiate Duties having 
been dispatched, three or four hopeful, religious lads came to my 
Chamber ; and with them I was wont to repeat and pray. But when 
King Charles II. came in, and a change was made in the University, 
and our Doctor turned out, all Repetitions in the Hall were put down, 
and my private one in my chamber could not be endured, neither 
could these few young men be permitted to come near me. A Refor- 
mation this which did not well deserve the name." 

A combination of circumstances brought Mr. Trosse into the 
ranks of the Nonconformists. He was not a little disgusted at 
seeing the pious and learned Master of his College expected to 
make room for a man who was cliieflj famed for being a great 
Racer ! * The chaplain of Pembroke " had an excellent Gift of 
Prayer and having prayed one Lord's day morning "with the 
most proper language and Heavenly matter, and with more than 
ordinary Elevation of Soul," this new Master, the great Racer, 
violently reproached him for not using the Common Prayer 
Book, and soon afterwards discharged him from his office. The 

* It appears, from a recent exhibition at Oxford, that the taste for field- 
sports still prevails among her sons to a far greater degree than a love of 
liberality. During the present month (October, 1835) her Majesty, Queen 
Adelaide, has paid a visit to this celebrated seat of learning. The students 
and other members of the University, while waiting for her Majesty's 
arrival, employed themselves, as is customary on such occasions, in shout- 
ing the names of the most prominent public characters, and either cheer- 
ing or hissing with great vehemence. In this instance, some young aspi- 
rant for fame shouted, " Lord Radnor and his fox-hounds," and great were 
the expressions of joy. Soon afterwards, another, recollecting his Lord- 
ship's effort to abolish Subscription to Articles of Faith, exclaimed, " Lord 
Radnor and the Dissenters," and there was immediately a loud and uni- 
versal hiss ! 

2 E 2 



420 



EXETER. 



subject of this memoir thouglit it necessary, about this time, to 
study the Controversy, and thus states the course he adopted : 

" I sought God by constant Prayer for his Direction in this impor- 
tant case. I also apply'd myself to the Reading and Studying of Books 
Pro and Con. And after ray most serious Perusal of Mr. Hooker's 
Ecclesiastical Policie, Mr. Sprint and Burgess for the Ceremonies and 
Conformity, and Mr. Galespie, Mr. Paul Bayn, and Mr. Ames, against 
these things ; upon the most mature deliberation and serious weighing 

of matters, I concluded it was the safest way not to conform." 

" I was satisfyd that by my Dissent I should disgust my mother and 
all my near relations, who were perfectly prejudiced against Presbytery 
and Nonconformity, and thoroughly devoted to the Episcopal "Way 
and Interest. But notwithstanding all discouragements of this kind, 
I kept my resolution of being a Minister and preaching the Word." 

Mr. Trosse was soon afterwards ordained in Somersetshire, 
with two others, by five or six able and pious Nonconformist 
divines. These ministers heard the theses of the young men, 
examined them strictly in some difficult points in divinity, 
received their confessions of faith, and then proceeded to ordain 
them. The subject of this memoir immediately began his min- 
istry at Exeter, amidst violent persecutions. For twenty years, 
he preached once a week, and administered the Lord's Supper 
once a month, in private houses. Some account of the events 
that befel him during this period is given in the preceding his- 
tory. When Mr. Trosse and his brethren were released from 
prison, they were carried to the Guildhall, in company with 
rogues and felons, to be accused not only of having had a Con- 
venticle, which subjected them to a fine of forty pounds, but 
also for having created a riot. By means of the latter accusa- 
tion, which was notoriously false, the magistrates hoped to have 
wrested from their victims some hundreds of pounds. Long 
and harassing were the trials on this infamous charge ; they 
were adjourned from place to place, and from time to time, until 
tbe accession of William the Third put the matter at rest. 

About this time Mr. Trosse succeeded Mr. Hallet, Sen., as 
the stated and public minister of a large congregation. For 
many years he continued to labour among his people, with great 



EXETER. 



421 



reputation and usefulness. His character, both as a minister 
and a private individual, during this period, is described in the 
highest terms bj Mr. Hallet, in his funeral sermon, and Mr. 
Gilling, in a continuation of his life. He seems to have con- 
sidered himself peculiarly bound to practise self-denial, and 
engage in exercises of pietj, in consequence of his great wick- 
edness in early life. Hence we read of his large gifts to the 
poor, his prayers seven times every day for many years, and his 
secret fasts once a month, which lasted from five o'clock in the 
morning until six in the evening, when he only came down to 
pray in his family. The particulars of his former course being 
well known in Exeter, and the energy with which he subse- 
quently denounced all kinds of vice and oppression being, to 
some, very disagreeable, he had to endure many taunts, and not 
a few cruel and groundless aspersions. From the latter he de- 
fended himself in various publications, and by a consistent and 
truly Christian example. He lived to the age of eighty-one, 
and preached to his congregation on the very day of his death. 
While returning from the meeting-house he fainted in the 
street. As soon as he was revived, he conversed with the friends 
who surrounded him concerning his hopes of future blessedness. 
When he had reached his house, he placed himself in a praying 
posture, called upon the name of the Lord, and thus yielded up 
his spirit. He chose the following words as the text of his 
funeral sermon : " This is a faithful saying and worthy of all 
acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sin- 
ners, of whom I am chief." 



Mr. James Peirce was born in London, about the year 
1673. His parents belonged to the Dissenting church at Step- 
ney, of which the celebrated Mr. Matthew Mead was then pas 
tor : their circumstances in life were easy, and they maintained 
a good character *^for sobriety and works of charity." 

Having lost these relatives when he was not more than eight 
years of age, the subject of this memoir, together with a brother 



422 



EXETER. 



and sister, were committed to tlie care of Mr. Mead. How his 
brother and sister were afterwards disposed of, is uncertain ; bnt 
James was taken into the family of his guardian, and instructed 
by the tutors he had chosen for his own sons, one of whom was 
subsequently the eminent Dr. Mead. For some years he went 
to a grammar-school ; and when he had attained a proper age, 
was removed to the University of Utrecht, where he had the 
advantage of attending the lectures of Witsius, Leydecker, 
Grseve, and other celebrated professors. Here, too, he became 
acquainted with the learned Reland, with whom he afterwards 
maintained an agreeable correspondence and friendship. After 
spending some years at Utrecht, he removed to Leyden, with a 
view to attend the lectures of Perizonius, Spanheim, Noodt, and 
other learned men. At Leyden he found several Englishmen 
of rank and fortune, also receiving their education ; tliis circum- 
stance not only animated him to pursue his studies with dili- 
gence, but enabled him to commence several valuable friend- 
ships.* 

When Mr. Peirce had continued upwards of five years in 
these seats of learning and virtue, he went back to England, 
and remained some time among his relations in London, whence 
he removed to Oxford, for the purpose of examining the Bod- 
leian library. Returning to London, he preached occasionally 
at the evening lectures in Miles' Lane ; and about two years 
afterwards he accepted the pastoral charge of a congregation of 
Dissenters at Cambridge ; having previously received ordination 
from the hands of the Rev. Messrs. Sylvester, Woodliouse, 
Shower, and Christopher Taylor. In this new and difficult situ- 
ation he was highly respected by his people, who made him 
what he terms "a handsome allowance ;" and by every other 
means in their power contributed to make his settlement among 
them agreeable. The duration of his ministry at Cambridge is 
uncertain. When he received the invitation from Exeter, he 
had boon some time minister of the Presbyterian congregation 
at N(>wbvir}\ Prior to this event, his character as a scholar and 

* P. D. M., Vol. ii. p. ii2. 



EXETER. 



423 



a genuine Nonconformist had been established by his vindica- 
tion of the Dissenters in reply to Dr. Nichol. * 

The history of Mr. Peirce's opinions may be best given in his 
own words : 

" I was bred up in a scheme of which I can now make nothing but 
Sahellknism ; and a set of unscriptural expressions had been incul- 
cated upon me from my youth, which I had a great veneration for. 
However, having this principle as early and as deeply fasten'd in my 
own mind, that the Scriptures icere the only rule of our faith, I always 
paid the highest regard to them; and I find a satisfaction in observing 
how careful I was, in the main, to use their language in my preaching. 
And though I cannot justify all I meet with in my old sermons, yet it 
pleases me to observe that, the older I grew, the more careful I be- 
came to express myself in these matters in the words of Scripture. 
I look'd upon this doctrine as a mystery which it was to little purpose 
to search into, and, despairing of satisfaction with reference to the 
difficulties I perceived, I negligently contented myself with patching- 
together some places of Scripture, which I thought yielded the main 
assertions I held. 

" But while I studiously avoided the controversy, and read my Bible 
under the influence of a prejudice in favour of the common opinion, 
two things used very much to astonish me. One was, that I saw 
plainly the ante-Nicene writers never came up to my notion, nay fre- 
quently spake very contrary thereto. I was at a loss how to reconcile 
the supposed necessity of my belief with the charity which I thought 
due to them. But here I help'd myself with this fancy, — that the 
doctrine was not then so well clear'd as it was afterwards ; and there- 
fore great allowances were to be made to those writers. The other 
thing which sometimes surpris'd me was, that I observ'd the writers 
after the Council of Nice, and particularly St. Basil, appear'd to have 
had odd notions of the Trinity, as that the three persons had one com- 
mon nature, just as three men have. This seem'd to me downright 
Tritheism; and I wonder'd how he came to be counted orthodox. 
But these things I reputed peculiarities, and thought I avoided them 
by the fewness of the assertions I would venture to advance. And ob- 
serving how very differently men used to speak and think of this sub- 
ject, I became more and more averse to the thinking or speaking of 



* Western Inquisition, p. 5. 



424 



EXETER. 



it^ and avoided reading about it, except as it came in uiy way, when I 
was reading- with quite another ^aew. 

" WTien the noise was first raised about Mr. "V\1iiston, I was much 
troubled, having an high esteem of him as a learned and pious man, 
who had honoured me with his acquaintance while I lived in Cam- 
bridge, and with a correspondence after I was removed. I took, 
therefore, the liberty to write him a letter, wherein in a friendly man- 
ner I expostulated with him, and produc'd some arguments for my 
opinion, and against what was reported to be his. His answer waved 
all manner of argument, and referred me to his papers which he in- 
tended to print, as soon as they had been examined by some learned 
men into whose hands he design'd to put them ; and in the mean 
^vhile he referred me to Novatian de Trinitatey to see his notions and 
those of the ancient writers together." 

" At length Dr. Clarke publish'd his Scripture-doctrine of the Tri- 
nity, and I, continuing as backward as ever to puzzle myself with con- 
troversy, would not so much as read him. But the talk of these mat- 
ters very much increasing after men had read his book, I accidently 
met a friend who reproach'd me with my sloth, and my unfairness in 
not reading both sides of so important a controversy ; and thereupon 
I bought the Doctor's book, and Mr. Whiston's five volumes, resolving 
to inquire as throughly as I could into the matter, and then to write 
somewhat in defence of my opinion, but nith the greatest caution. 
This I believe might be near a twelvemonth after the Doctor's book 
was publish'd." 

" I was soon convinc'd the common opinion coidd not reasonably be 
esteem'd a fundamental article of the Christian faith, as I had been 
too apt before to take it to be. And upon serious consideration the 
subject seem'd to me so abstruse and difficult, that I coidd not imagine 
God had made men's salvation to depend upon their entertaining 
exactly the same notion concerning it ; especially seeing the Scripture 
never insists upon the a])solute necessity of one uniform belief about 
it. And I was much confirmed in this apprehension, by considering 
how widely good men had difFer'd from one another upon the subject. 

" Wliilc I continued in suspence, being still upon the search, I con- 
sidcr'd with my self, how I ought to order my practice. And here I 
thought it most safe for me to keep close to the Scripture, which is 
mucli clearer in delivering rules and examples for our practice, than 
in furnishing us with nice and intricate speculations As to the Chris- 
tian virtues, 1 apprehended them not jnuch concerned in the contro- 



EXETER. 



425 



versy ; and in conversation I had always avoided such intricate points, 
and might easily do so still. But my chief concern vvas about my 
preaching and praying. Concerning the former, I was resolved to keep 
more close to the scripture expression than ever, and venture to say 
very little in my own words of a matter about which I was in so much 
doubt my self. As to the latter, I could not find there was any occa- 
sion for my making much alteration, which ever notion should appear 
to be the truth ; having always accustom'd myself, as all Christians 
for the most part do, to pray to the Father, thro' the Son, by the Holy 
Spu'it. In this therefore I resolved to go on. The only doubt I had, 
was about the expediency and agreeableness of the doxology I often 
used at the end of my prayers. I could not say it Avas unlawful ; but 
I thought the safest way was to consider what sort of doxologies the 
Scriptures set before us, and so recommend to our use. These I was 
sure must be safe, and the other might be doubtful. And it seem'd 
to me very reasonable that he that prays with others, should make the 
worship as unexceptionable as possible to all Christians, by avoiding 
to bring into it disputable, doubtful, and unnecessary things. For this 
reason I left off the doxologies I had been wont to use." 

Mr. Peirce was in this state of mind when he was invited to 
Exeter. A few additional particulars may be taken from the 
memoir by his satirical contemporary, Mr. John Fox.* This 
gentleman did not hesitate to record verj unequivocally the 
failings of his friends ; and as the most important purpose of 
biography cannot be accomplished without fidelit}^, I shall ven- 
ture to give the greater part of Mr. Fox's narrative verbatim. 

" The occasion of his coming to Exeter was to succeed the old Mr. 
Trossc. He was settled at Newbury with a very encouraging congre- 
gation when he had the invitation, and it was not soon or easily, to 
appearance at least, he complied with it. He saw that great court 
was paid to him, and very well knew how to keep up his dignity ; 
accordingly, he first of all seemed to scruple the leaving of his old 
people, who were all in tears about losing him, on which account both 
London and West-country ministers were consulted, who were of 
opinion at last, that it might be for the glory of God and the interest 
of the Dissenters for him to move to Exeter. When this obstacle was 



* Mou. Rep., O. S., Vol. xvi. p. 329. 



426 



EXETER. 



removed, another came in view, which was, how far it might be con- 
sistent with his liealth to come into Devonshire. To make all easy, 
an eminent physician in London was consulted, who, after didy weigh- 
ing- the case, advised, that removing to Exeter could not prejudice 
that, and thus at last the eager desires of the Exonians were gratified. 
An extraordinary respect was paid him at and long after his first coming. 
He was looked upon as the first man of the party, and he was reputed 
a happy man who was admitted to the conversation and acquaintance 
of Mr. Peirce. This was as distasteful to some ministers as it was 
agreeable to him, and laid the foundation for that party which was 
afterwards formed against him, though it was pretended that they 
acted purely from a zeal for truth, and the fundamentals of religion. 
He was, without doubt, a man of great parts and learning, and as 
such, made a greater figure among the Dissenters than any among 
them for many years before him ; and then he was always very inde- 
fatigable in his studies, and was so made, that his whole mmd and 
thoughts and conversation were engaged in them. I have often heard 
him say, that a thought would sometimes come into his head by night 
which pleased him, and that he then constantly struck a light, and 
went to his study to write it down; and that when he was A\Titing 
against Dr. Nichol, his usual custom was to go into his study when 
the bell rung nme in Cambridge (for there he lived at that time), 
where he always sat till four or five next morning, and never thought 
the time long." 

"He was exceedingly weU versed in the learned languages, but 
especially in the Latin, which appears by his Fmdtcice, &c., though I 
have been credibly told that it was corrected very accurately by the 
then Master of Westminster School, who was looked upon as a very 
great critic in that tongue. He was a very good philosopher and 
mathematician, but what he chiefly bent his studies to was divinity 
and explaining the Scriptures. He has given a specimen of his talent 
this way, in a Commentary on some of St. Paul's Epistles, after the 
manner of Mr. Locke. I never thought him a fine preacher ; for his 
common discourses were loose and unstudied, and he had a sort of 
cant in delivering them which pleased his hearers, because it chiefly 
affected the passions, and because he talked a great deal without notes. 
In his prayers he was often very jejune and dry, unless he happened 
to fall into a particular strain of thoughts which touched him, and then 
lie would proceed with great elevation, \vithout cant, tautolog}', or 
nonsense." 



EXETER. 



427 



Here Mr. Fox notices his contemporary's love of power in 
the Assembly, and then proceeds with the following description: 

" He conversed where he was acquainted with very great freedom, 
and when he was well he liked to be jocose and entertaining ; for he 
told a story with great humour, and would laugh immoderately when 
any thing hit him, whether told by another or by himself. He was 
quite a gentleman in his behaviour, and understood and practised 
good manners, and he knew how to behave himself to people of all 
ranks and parties without discovering any of that unpolite shyness, or 
mean sheepishness, with which most of his corps are infected for want 
of knowing and conversing with people better than themselves. He 
lived in his family with great decorum, if he was not sometimes a little 
too severe in executing his authority, for I know he hath condescended 
to the discipline of the horsewhip on some occasions. He was not 
over generous, or much given to hospitality ; he had very seldom his 
friends to eat or drink ; and though he would make free for several 
days together, and has been entertained with the best of all sorts, he 
has hardly invited that friend who entertained him to a single meal 
Avhen he has next seen him. His love of money appeared at the time 
of the monstrous rise of the South Sea Stock ; for he would not sell 
at 500 or 600 advance, and staid so long till it fell and missed his 
market. He had some peculiarities. He never could be persuaded 
to sit for his picture, for he had a notion that pictures originally 
were the occasion of worshiping images. There was a creature to 
which he had a natural aversion, but he would never tell what that 
creature was, even to his own wife. He would not attend the marriage 
of his own daughter, because he had written against the ring in mar- 
riage. He was always close and secret about his own affairs, and, 
what is seldom, very incurious about the affairs of others. He used 
no manner of diversion nor any exercise, until the swelling of his legs 
and other disorders obliged him to it. And indeed he was one of those 
people who are never happy but when they are deeply engaged in 
thought, or in conversation which suits their way and manner of think- 
ing-. He had some very great acquaintances, particularly Lord Chan- 
cellor King and Dr. Clarke, and was really known and esteemed more 
by the world than any man of his character for a century before ; and 
this was the occasion of his disgrace and trouble in the latter part of 
his life. 

" I don't think he behaved under it becoming a person of his sense 



428 



EXETER. 



and dignity. After lie was ejected, he removed from the city into a 
retired house in the suburbs ; but he retired in a very ill-humour, for 
he suffered his pride to get the better of his philosophy. I was once 
walking with him in one of his orchards, which had a prospect of St. 
Peter's towers : upon my taking notice of it, he surprised me with 
cr}^ing out, in great resentment and bitterness, *0h that hated city!* 
and it was plain to every one that was intimate with him, that he had 
not sufficient greatness of mind to despise his enemies, and that he 
suffered the triumph they gained over him in his ejection to break his 
heart. He did not survive his troubles many years; for though he had 
a handsome meeting-house built on purpose for him, with an encou- 
raging congregation ; though he got great reputation by what he 
wrote in the controversy then on foot, and though he was handsomely 
provided for in the world; yet his constant vexation, added to his 
retired way of life, threw him into a bad habit, which impoverished his 
blood so much, that a vessel broke in his lungs, which discharged so 
largely that he died in two or three days. He was sensible of his dan- 
ger when first his disorder appeared, and he told Mrs. Peirce, who 
happened to be near him in his kitchen, where he Avas sitting, that he 
always thought a time would come when they must part. He spoke 
this with a firmness and composure which struck all who heard him. 
And one night he asked his apothecary, who AA^atched with him, what he 
thought of his case, who making him an answer which implied he was 
fearful of telling the truth, he said, * Pray let me know the worst, for 
I am not afraid to die,' He then said he doubted he had not long to 
live, upon which he answered, * I am satisfied ; and go tell my enemies 
that I die in peace ; that I have true comfort in the part I have acted, 
and for which I have suffered, and that I hope one day to see my 
Saviour's face with joy, when some of them may hang their heads and 
tremble.' He uttered this (as the gentleman declared) with an aston- 
ishing greatness, and all his behaviour in his last scene of life was be- 
coming a good and a great man." 

Notwithstanding part of Mr. Fox's description, some of my 
readers will be disposed to saj, that mcoii/ of the scenes of Mr. 
Peirce' s life were becoming a good and a great man. ^Yitl^ 
regard to the failings mentioned in the above extracts, I cannot 
satisfy myself without offering a few remarks. First, Mr. Fox 
had an evident tendency to be severe. And next, for the fail- 
ings Mr. Peirce really possessed, many allowances arc to be 



EXETER. 



429 



made : he was a man of studious liabits ; the provocations he 
received were very great ; he felt himself, and he had a right to 
feel himself, far superior, in many respects, to his opponents. 
But the reader will say, — still he had faults. Unquestionably 
he had. Let those, however, who would blame Mr. Peirce 
employ themselves rather in examining their own characters. 
Let each ask himself — if all my own fjiilings were so unsparing- 
ly recorded, what would posterity think of me ? Biography, by 
representing human nature* as it is, leads us to do all in our 
power to make it what it ought to be. 

" He was buried (says the writer in the Protestant Dissenters* Maga- 
zine) in the churchyard of St. Leonard's, Exon ; and his surviving re- 
lations, in testimony of their affectionate regard, were desirous to have 
a stone with a proper inscription placed over him, and applied to a 
friend in London for this purpose, who sent them a very elegant Latin 
inscription. No one concerned in the affair supposed it was necessary 
to ask the consent of the minister of the parish, to place the stone 
over the grave. However, when the work was nearly finished, the 
rector informed them that he had a right to inquire after, and a power 
to forbid, such inscriptions as he disapproved ; and upon inspecting 
that intended for Mr. Peirce, he refused to allow it to be placed in 
the churchyard. He was then requested to permit the following 
words to be inscribed : * IIe?'e lies the rev., learned, and pious Mr. 
James Peirce.' But the rev. rector would not consent, alleging that 
Mr. Peirce could not be styled rev., because he was not lawfully or- 
dained ; nor pious, because he taught errors. All, therefore, which 
was permitted to be inscribed upon the tomb was, 

"'Mr. James Peirce's tomb. 1726.'" 

A list of Mr. Peirce's works, twenty-fom* in number, was in- 
serted at the conclusion of the memoir in the Protestant Dis- 
senters' Magazine. They chiefly relate to the celebrated 
Exeter Controversy, and to the discussion between the Dissent- 
ers and the Church of England. 

The following is the inscription objected to by the rector: 



430 



EXETER. 



H. S. E. 
Iacobvs Peircivs, 
clari nominis theologvs, 
qvi ingenio perspicaci limatoque ivdicio 
tantam ervditionem feliciter coxivnxit 
vt vtrvm eximiis natvrie dotibvs 
an indvstri^ ornamentis magis conspicvvs esset 

in dvbio reliqvisse videatvr. 
ivvenis stvdiorvm cavsa vltraiectvm se conwlit 
vnde post qvinqvennivm domvm reyersvs 
indefesso labore atqve diligentia 
omni fere literarvm, genere mentem implevit 
qvo ad theologi^ cognitionem svbsidii aliqvid 
sibi comparare posset 
tanta igitvr optimarvm artivm scientia instrvctvs 
cvnctas sacri mvneris partes fidelissime praestitit 
tam accvratis concionibvs qvam scriptis ervditis 

plvrimvm celebratvs 
veritatis avtem exqvirendae semper stvdiosissimvs 
cvm in nonnvllis tandem accidit vt sententiam mvtaret 
pari prvdentia et integritate se gessit 
nam vt alios ea celare sedvlo cvravit 
dvm illorvm interesse vt scirent havd credidit 

sic cvm primvm vvlgare necessarivm ivdicavit 
nvllo svo commodo avt incommodo addvci potvit 
qvo minvs pvblice profiteretvr, 
hinc in qvorvndam offensionem forte incidens 

qvibvscvm antea concorditer vixerat 
cvm reliqvam vitae partem lam magis privatam 

sibi vero havd minvs laboriosam 
neqve alus minvs vtilem transigere statverat 
sacris literis explicandis se praecipve addixit 
cvi praeclaro operi cvm qvatvor annos impenderat 
partibvs qvibvsdam editisqvae ingenii 
et doctrinae perpetva ervnt monvmenta 
lethali morbo correptvs pie placide qve decessit 
III KAL. Aprilis a. D. M. DCC. XXVI. 

AETATIS SVAE LIII. 



Ill Eiiglis^li : — 



EXETER. 



431 



Here lies 
James Peirce, 

AN eminent divine 
WHOSE GREAT LEARNING, HAPPILY JOINED 
WITH A PENETRATING GENIUS AND SOLID JUDGMENT, 
SEEM TO HAVE LEFT IT DOUBTFUL WHETHER HIS EXCELLENT 
ENDOWMENTS OF NATURE OR ACQUIRED ABILITIES RENDERED 
HIM MORE CONSPICUOUS. 
He WAS EDUCATED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UtRECHT, 
FROM WHENCE RETURNING HOME AFTER FIVE YEARS, 
BY INDEFATIGABLE LABOUR AND DILIGENCE 
HE FURNISHED HIS MIND WITH MOST PARTS OF LITERATURE 
THAT MIGHT BE OF SERVICE TO HIM IN THE STUDY 
OF DIVINITY ; 

AND HAVING GAINED SO GREAT A KNOWLEDGE OF THE BEST 
ARTS, HE VERY FAITHFULLY DISCHARGED ALL THE PARTS 
OF HIS SACRED OFFICE, AND WAS EQUALLY CELBRATED 
FOR HIS ACCURATE DISCOURSES IN THE PULPIT 
AND HIS LEARNED WRITINGS ; 
BUT BEING ALWAYS A MOST DILIGENT INQUIRER AFTER TRUTH, 
HAPPENING IN SOME THINGS TO CHANGE HIS OPINION, HE 
ACTED WITH EQUAL PRUDENCE AND INTEGRITY, FOR, AS 
HE CAREFULLY CONCEALED HIS SENTIMENTS FROM 
OTHERS, WHILE HE THOUGHT IT WAS NOT THEIR 
CONCERN TO KNOW THEM ; 
SO WHEN HE JUDGED THE DISCOVERY OF THEM NECESSARY, 
NO VIEWS OF ADVANTAGE OR DISADVANTAGE COULD PREVAIL 
WITH HIM NOT TO PROFESS THEM PUBLICLY. 
By this MEANS FALLING UNDER THE DISPLEASURE OF SOME 
WITH WHOM HE HAD BEFORE LIVED IN FRIENDSHIP, 
DESIGNING NOW TO SPEND THE REMAINDER OF HIS LIFE MORE 
PRIVATELY, THOUGH NOT WITH LESS LABOUR TO HIMSELF 
NOR BENEFIT TO OTHERS, 
HE APPLIED HIMSELF CHIEFLY TO EXPLAIN THE SACRED SCRIP- 
TURES, IN WHICH EXCELLENT WORK HAVING SPENT FOUR 
YEARS AND PUBLISHED SOME PARTS OF IT, 
WHICH WILL BE PERPETUAL MONUMENTS OF HIS ABILITIES AND 
LEARNING, BEING SEIZED WITH A FATAL DISTEMPER HE 
PIOUSLY AND CALMLY EXPIRED, 

ON THE XXX OF March, M. DCC. XXVI. 

IN THE Lin YEAR OF HIS AGE. 



432 



EXETER. 



INIlCAlJAH TOWGOOD was bom at Axmiuster, in the year 
1700. He was tlie grandson of Matthew Towgood, an ejected 
minister. This gentleman had two sons ; the elder was a min- 
ister, and the father of Stephen Towgood ; the younger was a 
physician, and the father of ^Nlicaijah. The subject of this 
sketch received his education in the house of his father till he 
was sent to the academy of Mi. Chadwick, wliich was in great 
repute among the Dissenters in the West of England. He 
remained here till Lady-day, 1717, when he was removed, to- 
gether with his school-fellow Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Amory, to 
Taunton, and placed under the care of the Rev. Stephen James 
and the Rev. Henry Grove, who superintended an academical 
institution in that town. In 1772, he succeeded Mr. Sparke 
as pastor of the Presbyterian congregation at iNIoreton-Hamp- 
stead, and laboured assiduously and successfully, in this corner 
of the vineyard, fourteen years. During his residence here, he 
married Miss Hawker, daughter of James Hawker, Esq., of 
Luppit, Devon, by whom he had four children, only one of 
whom sunived him. Towards the end of the year 1736, pros- 
pects of more extensive usefalness opened to him by an inA-ita- 
tion to settle at Crediton ; his congregation, with the hope of 
retaining him, offered to raise his salary, but he was influenced 
by higher motives ; and in the beginning of 1737, he entered 
upon his new charge. Here he pursued the course which had 
rendered his ministry so useful at Moreton. In this year, he 
first appeared before the public as the advocate of religious 
liberty. 

The title of the pamphlet which he then published, is " High- 
flown Episcopal and Priestly Claims Examined" ; its object is 
to asert the sufliciency of Scripture as a rule of Mth and prac- 
tice, without creeds, articles, and ceremonies, inid the right of 
every man to interpret it for himself. In 173^), he published 
" The Dissenters' Apology," a vindication of the Dissenters 
from some charges brought against them in the posthumous ser- 
mons of Dr. Warren, and an examination of schism, church 
authority, and civil establishments of religion. About the same 



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time appeared three letters of his, signed " Paulus," in a periodi- 
cal work called The Old Whig, on the order for reading the 
ridiculous stories of Tobit, and Bell, and the Dragon, and on 
the services of Confirmation and x\bsolution. His next publi- 
cation was a pamphlet entitled " Spanish Cruelty and Injustice, 
a justifiable Plea for a vigorous war with Spain, and a rational 
ground for hope of success." This was followed by a tract on 
" Recovery from Sickness," which passed through three editions, 
and was reprinted in America. During the rebellion of 1745, 
Mr. T. gave to the public a Sermon on the Errors, Absurdities, 
and Iniquities of Popery ; and Bishop Burnet and Bishop Lloyd's 
Account of the Pretender's birth. The same year appeared, 
^' The Dissenting Gentleman's Letters in answer to Mr. White," 
a work which shews the author to have been one of the ablest 
advocates of religious liberty. Whoever wishes to know the 
true grounds upon which true Dissenters justify their separation 
from the Church of England, should consult this admirable 
work. Mr. T. next published, " An Essay on the Character of 
Charles I." In the appendix to this work, he brings forward 
the testimony of Burnet, Echard, Clarendon, Rapm, and Hume, 
to prove that the Presbyterian clergy were the only body of men 
in the kingdom that had the courage to oppose and protest 
against the trial and condemnation of the King, and to petition 
for his life after it had been, condemned ; and that they had the 
principal hand in restoring his son. This only shews, what we 
have too many reasons for believing, that the Presbyterians of 
that period had very contracted notions of liberty, and often 
acted in the passive-obedient spirit of the ancient poet — 

" Though kings forget to govern as they ought. 
Yet subjects must obey as they are bound." * 

The next event in Mr. Towgood's life was his removal to 
Exeter, in 1749. He now published two pamphlets — " The 
Baptism of Infants a reasonable service," and " Dipping not 



The Earl of Dorset, in his tragedy of Gosbodixc, first acted m 1561. 
2 F 



434 



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the only Scriptural and Primitive Mode of Baptizing." In 
1753, lie was the means of defeating an attempt to make sub- 
scription to the doctrine of the Trinity a condition of receiving 
ordination from the Exeter Assembly. In 1756, a Charge by 
the Bishop of Oxford to his Clergy, led him to publish " Serious 
and Free Thoughts on the Present State of the Church and 
Religion." In this spirited pamphlet, he reminds the Bishop 
that among the causes assigned by his lordship for the prevalence 
of scepticism, he had forgotten to mention that the clergy them- 
selves solemnly subscribe to articles they do not believe. Two 
years afterwards, the taking of Cape Breton furnished our author 
with a subject for a sermon, which he also printed. 

When it was proposed to establish an academical institution 
at Exeter, the necessity of securing the co-operation of Mr. 
Towgood was immediately seen. The plan was carried into 
effect in 1760, and he undertook to deliver to the students 
critical lectures on the Scriptures. This he continued to per- 
form till the breaking up of the establishment in 1768. He 
also performed all his pastoral duties till 1782, when he re- 
signed his charge, having laboured in the ministry more than 
three-score years. On his retirement, an affectionate and res- 
pectful address, accompanied by a handsome silver vase — with 
an appropriate inscription — was presented to him by the united 
congregations. He was, at the same time, requested to allow 
some of his discourses to be published at their expense. This 
request was not complied with, probably, from a fear that at his 
advanced age he should not be able to bestow the requisite 
labour on the revision of his MSS. He, however, published 
an address to the two congregations on " The Grounds of Faith 
in Christians," comprising a concise view of the Evidences of 
Christianity. 

Mr. Towgood lived nine years after his pastoral connexion 
had ceased. He expired, at the patriarchal age of ninety-one, 
without pain, and in the perfect possession of his mental facul- 
ties. The description of his character will be best given in the 
words of Mr. Manning ; — 



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" It was not only his abilities and eloquence as a preacher which 
secured him the respectful attention of his audience, and the affection 
of his friends. These were accompanied by an amiable temper and 
exemplary life. His natural powers, to those who have read his works 
or attended his ministry, must appear to have been good, but his moral 
character was truly lovely. His discourses were the transcript of his 
soul, and his life was the enforcement of his sermons, the best com- 
ment to his preaching ; and by these means he secured the respect and 
veneration of his hearers." 

" Mr. Towgood's public services were assisted by private devotions. 
He never entered the pulpit without first addressing himself to God 
for a blessing in his retirements. Private prayer was always the first 
and last business of the day, and it was by these exercises he furnished 
himself with spirit and resolution to go through the active duties of 
his profession : this delightful intercourse with the Father of his spirit, 
gave animation and zeal to his public services, and rendered them a 

blessing to his flock In the devotions which his family and 

friends were called upon to share, he was equally constant and 
regular." 

"Though Mr. Towgood was thus remarkably devout, there was 
nothing formal, austere, or forbidding in his manners. ' Sanctity sat 
so easily, so unatFectedly, so gracefully upon him, that in him we beheld 
the very beauty of holiness.' Strict, regular, and exemplary in his piety ; 
he was lively, familiar, and condescending in company. Cheerfully 
did he mix with his family and friends in the hours of relaxation, and 
bore his part in conversation with all the good natured pleasantry of 
a virtuous heart. He possessed learning without the pedantry and 
pride with which it is often accompanied ; and his attention to study 
never indisposed him to those smaller attentions by which the esteem 
and affection of mankind are greatly conciliated." 

" Mr. Towgood had an exquisite relish for society, and was himself 
a most entertaining companion. His mind was furnished with an 
ample store of knowledge, not only in matters connected with his pro- 
fession but in most of the subjects of liberal inquiry. He knew the 
civil and ecclesiastical history, both of ancient and modern times, with 
an exactness very surprising in a man so conversant in deeper studies. 
He was also well acquainted with the history of arts, sciences, and 
manufactures. Of these he had lived long enough to see many in 
their infancy and maturity ; he could therefore trace tliem from their 

2 F 2 



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origin, through all their various improvements, interruptions, and 
revolutions," 

" He was much delighted with the company of his brethren in the 
ministry, in hearing their sentiments, and communicating his own on 
theological subjects, especially Scripture knowledge and inquiry. 
From the friendly manner in which he received them, and his exten- 
sive correspondence with them, he might justly have been called the 
cement of love and harmony, in the friendly associations of the two 
Western counties. His learning, piety, sincerity, experience, and 
good sense, gave him an authority and influence among his brethren, 
whom he always treated mth affection and freedom, and from whom 
he always found the returns of respect and esteem. Many occasions 
occurred which afforded him opportunities of exerting this justly ac- 
quired influence in checking and discountenancing a divisive spirit in 
ministers and in congregations." 

It is well known, that in his religious opinions, Mr. Towgood 
was an Arian, having, in early life, relinquished the generally 
received doctrine of the Trinity. The value which he attached 
to Christian freedom and intergitj is shewn by his declaration, 
" I esteem it a greater honour to be descended from these noble 
confessors (the ejected ministers), than to have had a coronet or 
garter in the line of my ancestry." Equally characteristic of 
his charitable spirit are his remarks on the arrangements of 
Providence, with regard to differences of opinion. 

" Had it been the intention of Heaven, that we should have 
all seen things in the same light, they would, doubtless, have 
been revealed with such clearness and precision, as that no 
sincere inquirer could possibly have mistaken them ; and that 
no diversity of opinion amongst the followers of Christ should 
ever have taken place. But where then would have been the 
opportunity for the display of that candour and condescension, 
that meekness and self-conquest, that mutual forbearance, hu- 
mility and charity, which are some of the brightest ornaments, 
and even glories of the Christian character, and which are of 
infinitely greater value, to recommeud us to the Divine favour, 
than any rightness of opinion, and any orthodoxy of sentiment. 



EXETER. 



437 



in many, which have been thought, and which really are, great 
doctrines of revelation." 

I cannot conclude this memoir without expressing a hope that 
some of my readers will be induced, by the extracts I have 
given, to make themselves acquainted with the life of Mr, Tow- 
good, by Mr. Manning, — " whose memory (to use the last words 
of this valuable piece of biography,) will ever be dear to me, 
and to all who, like me, have derived instruction and delight 
from the spirit of his writings, and the charms of his conversa- 
tion." 



Timothy Kenrick was born, January 26th, 1759, at 
Wynn Hall, in the parish of Ruabon, in Denbighshire ; and 
received his grammar learning at a private school in Wrexham. 
He soon discovered a predilection for the Christian ministry, as 
exercised among Protestant Dissenters ; an office which had 
been sustained with eminent credit and usefulness by his pater- 
nal grandfather, the Rev. John Kenrick, of Wrexham. 

In his sixteenth year, he became a pupil at Daventry, then 
under the care of Dr. Ashworth, and shortly afterwards of Mr. 
Robins. Here he pursued his studies with signal reputation 
and advantage ; being distinguished by the excellence of his 
temper, the correctness of his judgment, the diligence of his ap- 
plication, and the extent and solidity of his attainments From 
the first he seems to have cultivated a habit of devotion with 
singular assiduity, making himself master of a rich variety of 
scriptural expressions for the purpose of introducing them into 
his prayers in the family and in public ; — a practice in which he 
was remarked for considerable propriety of selection. 

It was a proof of the high sense entertained of his acquire- 
ments and virtues that he was chosen an assistant- tutor in the 
academy before he had completed his own course of study, and 
was fiu-ther appointed to read lectures, during one year, for Mr. 



438 



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Robins, shortly before the resignation of that gentleman. On 
the election of Mr. Belsham, Mr. Kenrick continued his servi- 
ces, first, as classical, and next, as mathematical tutor ; and by 
punctuality, zeal, and accuracy, united with great firmness of 
purpose, and a mild and happy manner of reproof, he gained, in 
a great degree, the attachment of his pupils. Having, however, 
the stated exercise of his profession still in view, he was soon 
called to another sphere of duty. 

In the beginning of the year 1784, Mr. Kenrick was invited 
to succeed Mr. Towgood at Exeter. In the summer of the 
following year he was ordained, and upon this occasion he 
delivered a statement of his religious belief, which, at that time, 
was far from being directly opposed to the received opinion. 
One subject, certainly, which he afterwards viewed in a differ- 
ent light, was the propriety of ordination itself, as it is usually 
observed among Dissenters. Not that he disapproved of a reli- 
gious service in order to introduce the connexion between a 
pastor and his flock ; for in such a service he was himself to 
have engaged in the autumn of 1804, had not his death inter- 
vened. He was persuaded, however, that unscriptural senti- 
ments of the positive institutions of the gospel, are considerably 
promoted by the custom of ministers not being permitted to 
celebrate baptism or the Lord's supper, previously to the cere- 
mony denominated ordination. On quitting the academy, Mr. 
Kenrick was far from ceasing to be a student. Much as his 
proficiency surpassed his years, he still applied himself with ex- 
traordinary diligence to the acquisition of knowledge, as well as 
to the communication of it, and especially to that of theological 
knowledge. Much of his time was employed in preparing his 
compositions for the pulpit ; much in discharging the lesser duties 
of the pastoral relation ; and it was also his object to increase 
his qualifications for two highly important branches of service, 
the exposition of the Scriptures, and the religious instruction of 
the young. 

He now entered on a more critical examination of the New 
Testament in the origuial language, with only the occasional 



EXETER. 



439 



help of some of the best commentators. To this direction of 
his studies were owing the expository lectures on the historical 
books of the Christian covenant which he delivered more than 
once to his congregation ; and to this he was indebted, under 
Providence, for a happy change in his sentiments of Christian 
doctrine. Some of the first religious impressions on his mind 
were accompanied by his admission of the tenets inculcated in 
the Assembly's Catechism. One of his favourite books in early 
life was Dr. Doddridge's " Rise and Progress of Religion in the 
Soul." This treatise, with many claims on approbation, justly 
incurs the accusation of describing religious excellence as a cer- 
tain train and state of the affections, rather than as a principle 
and habit. So powerful was its influence on Mr. Kenrick, 
that, agreeably to a direction contained in it, he drew up and 
subscribed a solemn act of self-dedication to a holy life. But, 
while he gave this proof of the devout and serious temper by 
which he was always characterized, his feelings were overcast 
by a gloom bordering on that despair which Dr. Priestley like- 
wise experienced in his youth, and which proceeded from a 
similar cause. It was then the practice of Mr. Kenrick to 
regard God as the arbitrary sovereign of the human race, and 
not as their gracious Father ; he was then perplexed as to the 
proper object of his worship, and had a constant fear of incurring 
the displeasure of one of the persons in the Trinity, by present- 
ing his addresses to another. At a subsequent period, he fre- 
quently contrasted with gratitude the doubts and the despond- 
ency of his former days, with the serenity and joy arising from 
his subsequent belief. At the time of his removal to Exeter, 
his views of the Trinity were, probably, those that had been 
taken by Dr. S. Clarke, and his creed, in respect to other arti- 
cles, approached more nearly to the doctrines of Arminius, 
than to those of Calvin. 

In the course of his subsequent investigation, he gained a 
persuasion, which gradually increased in strength, that Jesus, 
the mediator of the new covenant, is neither God equal with the 
Father, nor a pre-existent and superangelic being, but simply of 



440 



EXETER. 



the hmnan race, though highly distinguished by the Deity be- 
yond former messengers and prophets. Hence he regarded the 
doctrine of the gospel as more simple indeed than he had 
hitherto considered it, but, at the same time, more credible and 
useful. On other important articles in dispute among the pro- 
fessors of Christianity, he also disclosed, about this period, a 
change in his opinions. In these pages, however, it is the less 
necessary to state his religious sentiments at length, as they are 
fally represented in two posthumous volumes of his sermons, 
and in his Exposition of the Historical Parts of the Christian 
Scriptures. To conceal or disguise his views of Di\Tiie truth 
from the societies whom he served was not the disposition of 
Mr. Kenrick. If to some persons they were obnoxious, and if 
they were unpopular in the eyes of others, he had not so 
learned Christ as to shrink, on these accounts, from avowing 
them. Eventually, they were embraced by many members of 
his flock. 

At the half-yearly assembly of the Protestant Dissenting mi- 
nisters of Devon and Cornwall, at Exeter, May 7, 1788, Mr. 
Kenrick delivered a discourse, on " the best method of com- 
municating religious knowledge to young men," which he after- 
wards made public. Early in 1792, he published a sermon 
which had been delivered on the preceding 5th of November, 
and which was entitled, " The Spirit of Persecutors Exemplified ; 
and the conduct to be observed towards their descendants." 
This subject and his application of it had e\'idently been sug- 
gested to him by those memorials of bigotry and iatolerance 
which he had recently perceived at Birmingham. The steady 
and well-directed zeal of Mr. Kenrick prompted him, in the 
same year, to devise and attempt the establishment of an Uni- 
tarian Book Society, in the ^ye^t of England, upon the plan of 
one which had been instituted some months before in the me- 
tropolis. Convinced of the desirableness of a provincial asso- 
ciation for the like purposes, he exerted himself in recommending 
it to his friends, took an active part in framing the rules of it, 
drew up the simple and perspicuous statement which stands at 



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441 



the head of them, and, to his death, discharged the office of its 
secretary with the utmost vigilance and punctuality. On the 
second aniversarj of this institution, Sept. 3, 1793, Mr. Kenrick 
delivered a sermon at Taunton, which, a few months after- 
wards, was committed to the press, and the object of which is 
to shev/ that the period is probably arrived for the revival and 
diifusion of those two important truths, the unity of the Divine 
Being, and the humanity of Christ. Among the useful publica- 
tions circulated by the Western Unitarian Society, are a vol- 
ume of prayers for families, and another, of prayers for indivi- 
duals : both these works were compiled by Mr. Kenrick, partly 
from printed forms already in existence, and partly from com- 
munications, in manuscript by himself and several of his friends. 
Soon after the beginning of 1795, he printed "An Address to 
Young Men," &c., which has been published since his death, 
in the first volume of his discourses. 

About this time, he entertained the serious wish of again 
undertaking the office of a tutor. To instruct the young was 
an employment congenial to his mind, and his delight in it, 
added to his conviction of the urgent necessity of such exertions 
in the cause of learning and religion, now induced him to pro- 
ject the re- establishment of an academical institution at Exeter, 
principally with the view of providing for a succession of Dis- 
senting ministers. In the summer of 1799, he opened his house 
for this purpose ; having obtained the able co-operation of Mr. 
Bretland in the classical and mathematical department. Some 
of his students were designed for commercial and civil life ; and 
all w^ere under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Kenrick, 
in whose family most of them resided, and from whom they re- 
ceived lectures in logic, the theory of the human mind, and the 
evidences, doctrines, and history of natural and revealed reli- 
gion. In general, the course of instruction and discipline pur- 
sued in this seminary resembled that which had been followed 
with success at Daventry. By the assistance of some of Mr. 
Kenrick' s friends, in his immediate neighbourhood, and of others 
at a distance, exhibitions were given to a few students in divini- 



442 



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tj ; and to the same liberality he was indebted for a small, but 
elegant, set of philosophical instruments, and for some valuable 
books, in addition to the use of an excellent Kbrary, with which 
he was obligingly accommodated by the trustees of the former 
academy at Exeter. 

Considerable and various sacrifices were made by ^Nlr. Ken- 
rick, with a "^iew to the eifectual discharge of the duties of this 
relation. Xor should the obUgation which he thus conferred on 
the Mends of learning, religion, and free inquiry, be lightly esti- 
mated. Had his se mi nary been situated in the centre of the 
kingdom, it would, probably, have attracted greater attention, 
and been more extensively advantageous. Such, however, was 
the reputation of its tutors, that it obtained increasing patronage. 
INlr. Kenrick, who was disinterestedly concerned to provide a 
succession of ministers properly qualified for their work, and 
who wished to see others feel an interest in the support of theo- 
logical students rather than of an academy, had the satisfaction 
to perceive the growing credit and utility of his undertaking : he 
witnessed with deKght the improvement of his pupils ; and there 
is reason to believe that had Providence lengthened his life, 
the academical institution at Exeter, humble and domestic as it 
was, would have rendered signal service to the cause of sacred 
literature and truth, liberty and \'irtue. 

A short time before his own seminary was set on foot, Mr. 
Kenrick had been strongly invited to be lecturer in divinity and 
presiding tutor in the new College at ^lanchester : the situation 
was honourable and important ; but upon mature reflection, he 
declined the offer of it, from a persuasion that the success of his 
labours, in the joint character of pastor and tutor, was, on the 
whole, more likely to be promoted by his continuance at Exeter. 
There, among friends who were able to discern his worth, and 
eager to acknowledge it, and whose attachment to him was, in 
the highest degree, affectionate and respectful, he passed the 
remainder of his days. This happy connexion was, alas ! too 
soon to be dissolved. In the summer of 1804, he paid a visit to 
his Mends in Denbighshire : his health was apparently as strong 



EXETER. 



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as ever, and his spirits remarkably cheerful. From a short ex- 
cursion to Chester and Liverpool, he returned on the 22nd of 
August, to Wrexham ; and during his walk, on the same evening, 
in the fields surrounding that town, he was observed suddenly 
to fall. Medical aid was instantly procured : but the spark of 
life was extinguished, beyond hope of its revival by human 
skill. This solemn event was probably produced by apoplexy, 
with which he had once been alarmingly attacked some years 
before. On Sunday, August 26, he was interred, among his 
ancestors, in the Dissenters' burial-ground, at Wrexham. 

The sensation produced in his family and friends at Exeter, 
by the intelligence of his death, can more easily be conceived 
than represented. Tn every place, indeed, to which the informa- 
tion was conveyed, it excited the deepest sorrow of those who 
had known him : but it was natural that he should be most lament- 
ed in that city which had been the principal scene of his labours 
and his happiness, and where he was most respected and belov- 
ed. After a suitable interval, the congregation manifested their 
sense of the instructions of their late pastor, by requesting that 
Mrs. Kenrick would allow the publication of his Expositions of 
the New Testament, and also two volumes of his sermons. 
They justly considered that they could not erect a nobler monu- 
ment to his memory ; and their letter, accompanying the resolu- 
tion which contained this request, is highly honourable to their 
principles and feelings. 

Mr. Kenrick' s knowledge was various and well digested. 
With the several branches of theology he had an intimate ac- 
quaintance, which he was constantly improving. Nothing so 
much distinguished him from the bulk of the professors of Cliris- 
tianity, and even from many of his brethren in the ministry, as 
his ardent love of religious truth. To discover and communicate 
the pure doctrines of the gospel, and to promote their efficacy 
upon the human character, were purposes for which he spared 
neither time nor ease, neither early prepossessions, nor personal 
comforts and expectations. A sound understanding enabled 
him to form a satisfactory and mature judgment upon points of 



444 



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tlieological dispute ; liis iuquiries iuto religious subjects were 
carried on in the spirit of religion ; and it was some presumption 
of the truth of the doctrines which he zealously enforced, that 
the J were embraced hy a person of such qualifications and in 
such circumstances. While he avowed them with fortitude, he 
inculcated them in love. No man was less disposed to censure 
others for using that liberty of private opinion which he claimed 
and exercised himself; but no man was more hostile to dis- 
honourable concealment and accommodation ; no one was more 
faithful to the obligations of Christians and Protestants ; and he 
might truly have said, with the excellent Dr. John J ebb, " It is 
not my nature to give way to expediency at the expense of right. 
Moderation, when real, I honour : but timidity, or craft, under 
that appearance, I detest." 

Many of my readers who have read thus much concerning 
Mr. Kenrick will desire to know more. I regret that my limits 
will not allow me to do more than refer them to the memoir from 
which the above particulars have been taken.* They will there 
find not only an interesting account of his talents and virtues, 
but valuable illustrations of them in extracts from his instructive 
writings. The advantage to which he appears as a scholar, a 
tutor, a preacher, and a pastor, is rendered still higher by the 
engaging description of his demeanour in private life. It ap- 
pears that, in the year 1786, he married Mary, daughter of Mr. 
John Waymouth, of Exeter ; by this lady he had six children, 
five of whom survived, but at the birth of the last he lost the 
mother. During the year 1794, he formed an union with Eliza- 
beth, second sister of the Rev. Thomas Belsham, a connexion 
which fully ensured to his promising family the continued bene- 
fits of maternal tenderness and wisdom. 

* Prefixed to Mr. Kenrick's Exposition of the Historical Writings of the 
New Testament. 



EXETER. 



445 



n Oku &;?rfijjri)iii 

Joseph Bretland was a native of Exeter. His father, a 
respectable tradesman, married a daughter of Mr. Mills, of 
Somersetshire, hy whom he had four children. Of these, three 
died in infancy ; the youngest, who is the subject of this memoir, 
was born on the 22nd May, 1742. He never ceased, during 
the lives of his parents, to manifest the strongest sense of filial 
gratitude by a most dutiful obedience, and an anxious solicitude 
to contribute, as much as possible, to their comfort. His 
greatest pleasure appeared to consist in relating any anecdotes 
respecting them, especially towards the close of his life, when his 
friends could not render themselves more agreeable than hy 
inviting him to recur to his favourite topic. * 

At the usual age he was placed as a day scholar at the Exeter 
Grammar School, under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Hodgkin- 
son and his assistants. When nearly fifteen he was removed 
from home to the counting house of Mr. Mourgue, a respect- 
able merchant in this city, with whom he continued about 
twelve months. But his father, observing that he was frequent- 
ly much oppressed with a dejection of spirits, endeavoured to 
discover the cause and, being questioned in the kindest manner, 
he at length acknowledged that he could not bring his mind to 
this employment, having formed the strongest inclination for the 
ministry. Finding, after further inquiry, that this was his de- 
cided choice, his father, though greatly disappointed at having 
his object so frustrated, resolved to press it no longer, but most 
indulgently complied with his son's desire, and he was soon 
after placed under the instruction of the Rev. Mr. West, then 
minister of the Mint congregation. To this gentleman he con- 
sidered himself much indebted, and under his tuition the progress 
he made was rapid. 

In the year 1760, Mr. Bretland went to board at Lympstone 
for the purpose of learning the Hebrew language, and pursuing 

* This account is abridged from a memoir prefixed to two volumes of 
sermons, published after Mr. Bretland's death, in which is also a list of Mr. 
Bretland's works, twenty-two in number, critical, devotional, and practical. 



446 



EXETER. 



his mathematical studies, under the Rev. John Turner. This 
step was taken preparatory to his entering the academy, estab- 
lished in 1761, in this city, by that gentleman in conjunction 
with Mr. Micaijah Towgood, Mr. Samuel Merivale, and Mr. 
John Hogg. He finished his course of studies in 1766, having 
obtained from his tutors the fullest testimonials of being well 
qualified to engage in the ministerial profession : indeed, he had 
acquired the highest esteem and approbation by the assiduous 
attention which he constantly bestowed on his studies, and the 
exemplary regularity of his moral and religious conduct. His 
theological tutor, in particular, to whose memory he paid an elo- 
quent tribute of respect in one of his printed sermons, always 
entertained the greatest regard for him, and expressed the 
highest opinion of his talents and character. 

In 1770, Mr. Bretland became the minister of the Mint con- 
gregation, which situation he resigned in 1772. In the follow- 
ing year, he opened a classical school at Exeter, and many 
respectable inhabitants placed their sons under his instruction. 
Previous to the commencement of his own school, he had kindly 
lent his assistance to the Rev. Joseph Twining. In consequence 
of Mr. Towgood's resignation in 1782, the united congregation 
in Exeter resolved to invite ministers to preach as candidates. 
Mr. Bretland was applied to, but declined. In 1789, he was 
again invited to the Mint Meeeting, where he continued minis- 
ter until 1793. The society at George's Meeting-house then 
gave Mr. Bretland an invitation to supply the vacancy occasion- 
ed by the death of Mr. Tozer. This he accepted, and he re- 
mained in that connexion three years, at the end of which time 
he retired from the stated duties of the pulpit. Those who 
knew him, however, were far from acquiesciag in liis wish for 
retirement. In 1798, the Trustees of the New College, at Man- 
chester, applied to him unanimously to become the theological 
Tutor, but without success. The following year, a society was 
formed for the purpose of establishing an academy in the West 
of England for the education of ministers, and he then con- 
sented to become a tutor. This institution promised to be of 



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447 



extensive usefulness ; and the high character those gentlemen 
had acquired, would, probably, in a few years, have greatly in- 
creased the number of the students, but Providence saw fit to check 
its success, by the unexpected removal of Mr. Kenrick, in the 
summer of 1804. The committee having failed in their attempt 
to provide a suitable successor, resolved, at a meeting held in 
February, 1 805 — " That the academy should cease for the 
present to be carried on in Exeter." At the same meeting the 
following resolution unanimously passed, " that the Rev. Joseph 
Bretland be requested to accept our most cordial thanks for the 
various and numerous services he has rendered us, both as an 
associate and tutor, in the management of every thing relating 
to our institution, from the time when it was first founded." 

The following sketch from the pen of the Rev. Thomas 
Jervis, appeared in the Monthly Repository : 

1819, July 8th. Died at his house in Exeter, aged 77, the Rev. 
Joseph Bretland. He was a native of that ancient city, in which he 
spent a long-protracted life in the uniform habits of literary retire- 
ment. Purity of heart, rectitude of conduct, and simplicity of man- 
ners, were prominent features in the character of this virtuous man. 
Endowed with strong intellectual powers, his application was constant 
and unremitting, and his mental attainments proportion ably great. 
The love of truth might justly be considered as his ruling passion ; 
while his calm and philosophic mind was ever assiduous and inde- 
fatigable in the pursuit of it. His religious opinions, which were 
strictly Unitarian, were the result of candid, free, and deliberate in- 
quiry, adopted upon the fullest conviction, and, though formed at an 
early period, they were estabhshed and confirmed by the subsequent 
reflection, and persevering research of his maturer years. In morals, 
in theology, in metaphysics, and in biblical criticism, his learning was 
profound, his judgment solid and acute, and his integrity inflexible 
and unimpeached. These qualifications and endowments are suffi- 
ciently evinced by the few productions of his pen, which his genuine 
modesty and humility permitted him to commit to the press. As a 
preacher, the discourses of this distinguished scholar and divine were 
marked by a chaste and correct style of composition, and a rational, 
undissembled, and elevated piety ; while they were addressed to the 
hearts of his hearers, in a simple and impressive tone of delivery." 



448 



EXETER. 



In the year 1793, he married Miss Sarah Moffatt, a sister of 
the Rev. Mr. Moffatt, of Malmsbury. Nine years afterwards 
he sustained the severe and irreparable affliction of her death, 
occasioned by a long and most distressing consmnptive com- 
plaint. 

Mr. Manning conducted the service at the funeral of his vene- 
rable fellow-labourer ; and INJr. Hincks soon afterwards paid a 
suitable tribute to his memory in a sermon preached by liim at 
George's meeting, concluding with these words ; 

" In the state of weakness to which he was at last reduced, our friend's 
longer continuance in this scene of things could hardly have been ear- 
nestly wished. Those who loved and respected him had the satisfaction 
of seemg that his gentle decline was miattended by much bodUy suffer- 
ing, and by him was cahnly watched and patiently endured, in the full 
confidence of Christian faith and hope. They had the pleasure to ob- 
serS'C, that whilst the infirmities of age unnerved the energies of his 
mind, and deprived him of the power to instruct and delight others, 
they could in no degree affect that habitual and cheerful piety which 
had long become a part of his feeling and habits, — and they had the 
last soothing pleasure of knowing, that the moment which mortals 
dread, the moment which connects time with eternit}', was to hun 
tranquil and peaceftd ; — without a struggle, — almost without a sigh he 
sunk into the arms of death, where he vnH leave aU \A eakness and im- 
perfection to rise in immortality, in glon,', and in power." 



The Rev. James Manning was born at Northampton, on 
the 25th of August, 1754. His parents were highly respectable 
inhabitants of that place, and members of Dr. Doddridge's con- 
gregation. He was favoured by Providence, from his birtb, 
with that greatest of all earthly blessings, — if altogether eartbly 
it is to be called, — a wise, virtuous, and prudent mother. Of 
his father he spoke as being uniformly just and kind, — but over 
indulgent in the treatment of his children. 

Mr. Manning received the rudiments of school education 
under several Dissenting ministers of his native town, first, 



EXETER. 



under the Rev. Mr. Ryland ; afterwards, under the Rev. Mr. 
Gilbert, and the Rev. Mr. Hextal ; but he does not seem to 
have been particularly fortunate in Ms earliest tutors. In 1762, 
when he was but eight years of age, his father died, having had 
seven other children, all of whom had died from constitutional 
weakness in their infancy. This circumstance is worthy of 
notice, because Mr. Manning himself was remarkable through- 
out his protracted life, for the most uninterrupted health and 
almost unbroken strength, which he ascribed to his having been, 
on account of the death of the other children, and his own 
weakness as an infant, placed with one of his father's tenants in 
the country, to be brought up in their rustic way, feeding on simple % 
diet and wholesome air. Six years after his father's death, Mr. 
Manning's mother married the Rev. Samuel Merivale, then 
Divinity Tutor of the Dissenting Academy, at Exeter. This 
was a happy event for the surviving son. It gave him, at the 
period of his life when he most needed it, that sort of counsel 
and guidance which even his mother might not have been able 
to give him. Mr. Merivale seems always to have behaved 
towards his step-son in the kindest manner. From this time, 
it is probable, it was the joint wish of Mr. and Mrs. Merivale, , 
that he should be brought up to the Christian ministry. Being 
yet too young to enter the academy, he was placed under the 
care of the Rev. Mr. Kiddel, of Tiverton, having for his school- 
fellow Mr. Merivale' s own son. At sixteen years of age, he 
was entered as a Divinity student in the Exeter Academy, 
where he remained tUl the final breaking up of that institution, 
about four years after his admission. He was then removed to 
Hoxton, and placed under the care of Drs. Rees, Savage, and 
Kippis. 

In 1775, Mr. Manning, having finished his academical pur- 
suits, repaired to Exeter. Mr. Merivale having died a short 
time before, he was almost immediately engaged to succeed 
him, as pastor of the congregation at Thorverton. But, in less ? 
than a year, he accepted an invitation from the united congrega- 
tions at George's Meeting, to assist Mr. Stephen Towgood. In 

2 G 



450 



EXETER. 



the course of the next jear this gentleman died, and Mr. Man- 
ning was unanimously elected his successor. Xot many months 
after his election, he was solemnly ordaiaed. There were pre- 
sent about thirty ministers ; those who officiated were Mr. M. 
Towgood, INIr. Planning' s co-pastor ; jNIr. Tozer, then the pastor 
of another society in Exeter, but afterwards one of the ministers 
of George's ^Meeting ; Dr. Harris, of London ; and Sir Harry 
Trelawny, of Cornwall. About the same period, ]Mr. jVIanniug 
was united to his first wife, the daughter of Walter Oke, Esq., 
of Pinney. This very amiable lady died in less than two years 
after her marriage, leaving one son, the present \Yilliam Oke 
iManniug, Esq., of London. He was again married, in the year 
1780, to the daughter of John Edye, Esq., of Bristol. 

INIr. Manning always testified that this connexion had been 
to him a source of un mingled benefit, and of the purest earthly 
happiuess ; indeed, it was impossible to visit him in his domestic 
circle, without obser\-iDg that few men ever found greater plea- 
sure and satisfaction in the bosom of their families. The finiits 
of his second marriage were three children, who all survived 
him ; James Manning, Esq., Barister-at-Law ; John Edye ]\Ian- 
mng, Esq., Registrar of the Colony of New South Wales ; and a 
truly beloved daughter, whose affectionate and exemplary atten- 
tions to him ceased only with his latest breath. In the long 
course of his public ministry, Mr. Manning had many colleagues ; 
towards all he beha^'ed with uniform candour and kindness ; but 
with some, especially with Dr. Carpenter, he lived on terms of 
the most perfect friendship, and true Christian affection. 

It is only necessary to say a few words on the subject of his 
character. Though possessed of a sound, strong understanding, 
and good talents, he was one of those men, (perhaps the happi- 
est class LQ the world,) in whom the moral quahties are more con- 
spicuous than the iutellectual. His temper was admirable, 
mild and patient, serene and cheerful, to a very remarkable 
degree. There was usually a smile upon his countenance, and 
it was faithfully indicative of the spirit withiu. His very voice 
and step were characterisic of his dispositions. If you met him 



EXETER. 



451 



he generally looked as if he were going about doing some good ; 
and so he was. It was one of his most favourite occupations 
to pay visits of charity and consolation to the poor and sick, 
and of kind civility to his friends. He was peculiarly earnest 
and active in his personal atttentions to all the charitable and 
benevolent institutions with which he was connected. His 
reputation was deservedly high in the city of Exeter, and the 
county of Devon, amongst all ranks and denominations of 
people, for the services which he was always so willing and able 
to render to undertakings of public utility. In 1798, in con- 
junction with Bishop Duller, Lord Rolle, and other influential 
persons, he was mainly instrumental in the establishment of the 
Lunatic Asylum at Exeter, and continued to the time of his 
death one of its most zealous and efficient governors. He was 
also chosen by his fellow- citizens to be one of the corporate 
guardians of the poor ; and it is well known how frequently he 
accompanied the discharge of his official duties with acts of pri- 
vate charity. He was likewise one of the vice-presidents and 
visiters of the Devon County Hospital, where he found another 
field for the habitual exercise of his kind and benevolent feel- 
ings. 

In his public services, as a Christian teacher, Mr. Manning 
was eminently successful. In the earlier part of his life espe- • 
cially, he was greatly admired and approved as a preacher ; and 
to the last he never failed, not merely to instruct, but to interest 
and impress his hearers. He was in sentiment an Arian, but 
seldom entered upon his peculiarities of opinion in this respect ; 
when he did so, however, he was open and manly in his state- 
ment, and earnest in the defence of his views. On these points 
he differed from all his colleagues since the time of Mr. Ken- 
rick, and from a great majority of his congregation. But this 
circumstance produced no unpleasantness : he was too en- 
lightened and charitable to think lightly of others for any differ- 
ence of opinion ; and he was himself too highly respected for his 
many excellent qualities, for others to think lightly of him. His 
devotional exercises in the public sanctuary were singularly 

2 G 2 



452 



EXETER. 



fervent and affecting. It was the fault of the hearers if he did 
not always carry their hearts with him to the throne of grace. 
Religion was deeply seated in his own soul, and its inspirations 
flowed richly from his lips. 

It has been already observed that his health and strength 
were very remarkable. At the age of seventy-flve, he had never 
been confined to his bed or kept from his pulpit by illness. 
But about this time he began to feel periodical attacks of 
diarrhoea, a common indication of approaching decay in old 
persons. Though not alarming at first in the case of Mr. 
Manning, they gradually increased in severity, and finally termi- 
nated his life on the 10th of September, 1831. He preached 
however, and administered the Lord's supper, on the first Sun- 
day of the preceding month ; though his evident feebleness on that 
occasion too clearly revealed the painful truth to his friends. 
He never preached again, but attended the chapel for the two 
following Sundays ; after which he became rapidly worse. His 
end was peaceful and edifjing. All his children, except Mr. 
John Manning, of New South Wales, were around him, and, 
together with his household, received his pious and affectionate 
blessing. His memory is dear to aU. May his example be 
followed by all. 

A short time before his death, the congregation cheered and 
gratified Mr. Manning by presenting him with a handsome 
silver vase of the value of upwards of one hundred guineas. It 
had this inscription : — " To the Rev. James Manning, this vase 
is presented, by the united congregations of Protestant Dissent- 
ers assembling at George's Meeting, Exeter, as a testimonial 
of their gratitude and respect for the zeal and fidelity with which 
he discharged the duties of the pastoral office in that place, for 
more than fifty-three years." 

Mr. Manning published eight single sermons, and other 
pamphlets on religious subjects, besides a life of IVIr. Towgood, 
and Exercises of Piety, translated from Zollikofer. For a list 
of his works see Unitarian Chronicle, Vol. i. p. 15, from which 
this sketch is taken. 



CREDITON 



Crejditon, often pronounced Kirton, is an ancient and populous 
town, situated near the river Greedy, between two hills ; one of which 
rises with a gradual elevation towards the north, while the other to the 
south, having a more quick ascent, overlooks the tops of the houses. 
This town consists of two parts, respectively denominated the East and 
the West Town ; the latter of which was formerly of much greater 
extent than at present, upwards of four hundred and fifty houses 
having been destroyed by a dreadful fire, in 1743. A second fire, in 
1 769, consumed many of the new buildings that had been erected on 
the sites of those before burnt. 

Crediton was probably a place of considerable consequence in the 
Saxon times, as no fewer than twelve Bishops had their seat here, 
between the years 924 and 1049, when the see was removed to Exeter. 
The old Church or Cathedral was, according to Leland, situated on the 
spot now occupied by houses on one side of the present burial-ground ; 
but not any part of it remains. After the removal of the see, there 
continued in it a Chapter, under the peculiar jurisdiction and patron- 
age of the Bishops of Exeter. — Beauties of England and Wales. 

This town lies nearly in the centre of Devonshire, about eight miles 
north-west of the city of Exeter, upon a fine red gravelly soil, and is 
nearly a mile in length, extending from east to west. The air is most 
salubrious. — Polwhele. 

Population in 1811,-5178; in 1821,-5515; in 1831,-5922. 



BOWDEN-HILL MEETING. 



Although the glory of episcopacy had passed 
from Crediton long before the year 1662, the Na- 
tional Church then possessed great influence among 
the inhabitants. This may be accounted for partly 
by the circumstance that the election of its minis- 
ters, as well as the collection and appropriation of 
its revenues, was more popular than usual. In the 
reign of Edward the Sixth, a charter was granted 
of all the " tythes, oblations, and obventions," unto 
twelve governors and their successors, on certain 
considerations therein named. Besides other privi- 
leges, these governors, says Polwhele, have power 
to elect a vicar to the parish church of Crediton, 
who has the benefit of a parsonage-house, garden 
and field, and a salary of one hundred pounds a 
year ; * also an assistant to the vicar, with a salary of 
eighty pounds a year. The same officers are entitled 
to compound for the tythes, or take them in kind as 
they think proper ; and if any money remain, after 
the payment of the aforesaid salaries, they are 
required to divide it among the poor. 

On the passing of the Act of Uniformity, the 
vicar of Crediton was one of those who remained 



* Since considerably increased. 



CREDITON. 



455 



in the Church of England. But it was not long 
before a Nonconformist congregation was formed 
here, under the care of one of the neighbouring 
ejected ministers. Mr. John Pope preached in this 
parish some time after he had been silenced else- 
where ; and when James the Second gave liberty to 
the Dissenters, he became the fixed pastor of a 
Presbyterian congregation at Crediton. In 1688 
he removed to Exeter, where he died in the follow- 
ing year. * It is probable that Mr. Pope's successor 
was Mr. Carel, who, it is said, after long preaching 
about the country, fixed at Crediton. "I* The next 
name is Mr. Eveliegh, who was ordained here in 
1702, and remained the pastor of the congregation 
until his death. He was one of Mr, Peirce's oppo- 
nents, and published several pamphlets in the con- 
troversy of that period, particularly one entitled 
^' The Church's Eock."$ 

The present meeting-house is believed to have 
been built during the ministry of Mr. Eveliegh. 
The vestry was added in 1741, and it is the general 
opinion that the chapel had then been erected about 
twenty years. One, if not two Nonconformist 
chapels, of greater antiquity, are supposed to have 
existed ; but no traces of any kind remain. This 
building measures forty-three feet, in the line of 
entrance to the pulpit, and fifty-seven in the other 
direction. It is situated on an elevated ground 
called Bowden Hill, a name by which it is often 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 425. 
: Eng. Prcsb., p. 149. 



t Ibid, p. 424. 



456 



CREDITON, 



called ; this hill is between the east and west towns 
of Credit on. Externally, the chapel has a very 
simple and venerable appearance, especially in 
summer, when partially seen through the trees. 
There is no regular burial-ground attached to it, 
though the remains of some children have been 
deposited near. 

Mr. Eveliegh died in 1736. We have the names 
of two ministers who were probably his assistants. 
Mr. Peter Jillard was at Crediton a few years from 
1724, when he was ordained; he was afterwards at 
Exeter, Bideford, Tavistock, and Bristol* The 
other minister was Mr. Eoger Flexman, -j* who 
came to Crediton in 1731, and remained till Mr. 
Eveliegh's death. Mr. Jillard and Mr. Flexman 
prepared the way for Mr. Micaijah Towgood, who 
removed from Moreton in the beginning of 1737. 
It was while Mr. Towgood was at Crediton that he 
published his most celebrated works. Although he 
pursued those pastoral plans which rendered his 
ministry so useful at Moreton, he found time for 
enlightening the world as to the great principles of 
religious liberty. He published in 1737, "High- 
flown Episcopal and Priestly Claims Examined"; 
in 1739, " The Dissenter s Apology," being a reply 
to Dr. Warren ; in 1741, Spanish Cruelty and 

* Eng. Presb., p. 146. 

t I find it is not quite clear that Mr. Flexman was settled at Crediton 
as assistant to Mr. Eveliegh. The writer of the historical i)apcrs in the 
English Presbyterian, states that Mr. Flexman removed from Modbury to 
Bow. In the same i)ai)crs, however, is an annising anecdote relating to his 
desire to be chosen at Crediton. — Eng. Presb., p. 155. 



CREDITON. 



457 



Injustice," a plea for a war with Spain ; in 1742, 
''Recovery from Sickness," a present to those of his 
congregation who had been raised from dangerous 
disorders; in 1745, a sermon on the absurdities of 
Popery, in reference to the Pretender's invasion ; in 
the same year, "The Dissenting Gentleman's Letters 
in answer to Mr. White"; and lastly, in one small 
octavo volume, ''An Essay on the Character of 
Charles the First." Nor, while his pen was en- 
gaged in these rapid and various labours, all accom- 
plished during the short space of twelve years, did 
he neglect the interests of the people committed to 
his charge. In 1743, while he was in the midst of 
his literary exertions, occurred that dreadful fire 
which deprived four hundred and fifty families of 
their dwellings, and destroyed property to the 
amount of c^40,000. Immediately the house and 
the purse of Mr. Towgood were opened for the suf- 
ferers; and, in connexion with the minister of the 
Established Church, he solicited subscriptions and 
obtained a very large sum for their relief. On the 
following Sunday he preached, in reference to this 
calamity, an affecting sermon, which was afterwards 
printed. * 

Mr. Towgood removed to Exeter, in 1749, and 
was succeeded at Crediton by Mr. Berry, who was 
the pastor of the congregation thirty-one years. 
The next minister was Mr. Hogg, who previously 
officiated at Sidmouth, In 1785, he was followed 
by Mr. W. T. Hort, whose ministry here lasted four 

* Manning's Life of Towgood, p. 22. 



458 



CREDITON. 



years. Mr. Thomas Reynell then came, and remain- 
ed with the society till 1797. It has since been 
served by Mr. Holt, Mr. Edwards, Mr. (now Dr.) 
Da vies, Mr. John Lewis, Mr. Watts, Mr. Lewis 
Lewis, Mr. G. P. Hinton, and Mr. Johns. Of Mr. 
Holt a memoir has been given in connexion with 
Cirencester. Mr. Davies removed to Taunton, 
where he officiated as minister, and conducted a 
highly respectable school many years ; he has now 
relinquished both offices, and lives in London. 
Mr. Watts has lived at Frome many years; in 1802, 
he edited Dr. Isaac Watts's ''Faithful Enquiry after 
the Ancient and Original Doctrine of the Trinity 
taught by Christ and his Apostles." Mr. Lewis 
Lewis removed to Dorchester, and Mr. G. P. Hinton 
to Marshfield. To Mr. Johns, the present minister, 
the public are indebted for several single sermons, 
and several volumes of poems. Not a few of these 
elegant productions have been occasioned by the 
deaths of members of his congregation. 

Until 1757, the Presbyterian meeting-house was 
the only one in Crediton ; in that year the Inde- 
pendent congregation was formed; in 1S09, the 
Wesleyan; and in 1816, the Baptist. In the more 
ancient but less populous house of prayer, Arian 
and Unitarian sentiments have been inculcated at 
least a centurv. 

The congregational institutions are a Sunday- 
school, a vestry library, and a fellowship fund. 



CREDITON. 



459 



John Pope 1668—1688. 

Robert Carel 1688—1702. 

josiah eveliegh 1702 — 1736. 

Peter Jillard 1724—1727. 

Roger Flexman 1731 — 1736. 

MiCAIJAH TOWGOOD 1737—1749. 

John Berry 1751—1782. 

John Hogg 1782—1785. 

William Jillard Hort 1785 — 1780. 

Thomas Reynell 1791 — 1797. 

James Holt 1799—1804. 

John Edwards 1806-1 808. 

Henry Davies, LL. D 1808—1810. 

John Lewis 1810—1810. 

Gabriel Watts 1812—1812. 

Lewis Lewis 1814—1817. 

George Pullin Hinton 1817—1820. 

John Johns 1821. 



The Rev. Thomas Reynell was the third son of the Rev. 
John Reynell, first of Plymouth and afterwards of Thorverton. 
He received his early education from his great uncle, the Rev. 
John Reynell, of Totness, a favourite pupil of Dr. Doddridge. 
In 1784 he removed to Dav entry, where his abilities and moral 
excellence obtained for him. much respect. At the expiration 
of five years, he officiated some time at Crediton ; his talents as 
a preacher were held in high estimation ; but the state of his 
health, combined with other circumstances, obliged him to relin- 
quish the exercise of his profession. After a short residence in 
the Peninsula, he settled in London, and there spent nearly the 
latter half of his life. 



460 



CREDITON. 



Mr. Reyuell was possessed of no ordinary talents ; but, like 
many other men, whose merit is conspicuous to every one but 
themselves, he courted retirement, not because he was indolent, 
or indifferent to the improvement of mankind, but because of 
his extreme modesty, which made him too diffident of his own. 
powers. Those who were best acquainted with him, could not 
fail to be impressed by the excellence of his mind, heart, and 
conduct. 

In 1792 Mr. Re^niell published, anomTnousl}-, some Obser- 
vations on Mr. Manning's Sketch of the Life and Writings 
of Mr. Towgood. He also published, by request, a sermon 
preached at Exeter, before the Western Unitarian Society, 
in 1794. These productions gave sufficient proof of his 
ability, and afforded the promise of still greater things — a 
promise which would, doubtless, have been more fully realized, 
had the circumstances in which he was afterwards placed been 
more favourable to the exercise and development of his talents. 
Though he lived little in the world, he nevertheless enjoyed the 
society of a few congenial literary friends who duly appreciated 
his worth; and his leisure hours were devoted to miscellaneous 
literary undertakings, the fruits of which adorn the pages of 
several anonymous publications. 

Mr. Reynell was never married, but for his kindred he ever 
retained the warmest regard. He died in London, Dec. 19th, 
1831, in the sixty-third year of his age.* 



* Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. v. p. 142. 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD 



" A TOWN in Devonshire, with a market on Saturday, and manufac- 
tures of woollen cloth and yarn. It has the vestiges of two castles, 
or forts, and in the vicinity are a Druidical temple and a cromlech." — 
Brooke. 

"The town of Moreton-hampstead, about thirteen miles to the 
south-west of Exeter, is situated upon an eminence in the midst of a 
vale ; which, though not so rich as the vales to the east of the county, 
yet bears similar marks of cultivation." 

"It is remarkable, that this town is nearly equi-distant from six 
other to^vns — Okehampton, Exeter, Crediton, Newton, Ashburton, 
Chudleigh. And the periphery of a circle, about four miles round the 
town, would run through fourteen parishes." — ^Polwhele. 

Population in 1811,-1653 ; in 1821,-1932 ; in 1831,-1864. 



GENERAL BAPTIST AND PRESBYTERIAN 
CHAPELS. 



In this town there is a chapel of each of these 
denominations. A few years since^ the two societies 
united and placed themselves under the care of one 
minister. From that time it has been their custom 
to meet at the Baptist place of worship on one part 
of the Sunday, and at the Presbyterian on the 
other. 



THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 

Neither the age nor the origin of this church can 
be exactly ascertained. No document relating to 
its early history has been preserved, and little infor- 
mation can be gleaned from published works. Tra- 
ditionary accounts there are several ; and these have 
stimulated a few lovers of such lore to search for 
authentic records; but their labours have been in 
vain. Alb therefore, that we can do, with regard 
to the commencement of the society, is to shew that 
those accounts are supported by general historical 
facts. 

The present members of the Baptist church at 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



463 



Moreton have heard from their ancestors^ that it is 
very ancient^ that it once suffered dreadful perse- 
cutions^ and that it never adopted Trinitarianism. 
Concerning the first point, Crosby has shev^n* that 
many impugners of infant baptism were scattered 
over this country about the middle of the sixteenth 
century. These persons, though maintaining several 
noxious opinions which have long been unknown 
among the Baptists, were probably the founders of 
the sect in England. Burnet thus bears similar 
testimony; ''At this time (1547) there were many 
Anabaptists in several parts of England ; they were, 
generally, Germans, whom the Eevolutions had 
forced to change their seats." In 1608, a writer 
called Enoch Clapham published a work, from which 
it appears there were then many Baptists in this 
country, that they complained of the application of 
the term Anabaptists to them, as an unjust term of 
reproach, and that they were distinguished by in- 
sisting on the validity of Adult Baptism, in opposi- 
to the Baptism of the Church of England and the 
Puritans, -j- Neal, who was far from being partial 
to their cause, admits that, in 1644, they ''made a 
considerable figure, and spread themselves into se- 
parate congregations." J "So wonderfully (he adds) 
did this opinion (the necessity of ' dipping ) prevail, 
that there were no less than forty-seven congrega- 
tions in the country, and seven in London, who 

* Crosby's History of the Baptists, Vol. 1. 

f Neal's History of the Puritans, Vol. ii. p. 111. 

t Quoted by Crosby, Vol. i. p. 88. 



464 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



published a confession of their faith." It is pro- 
bable that the Moreton church was one of these. 
That there were Baptists in this part of the king- 
dom^ appears from '^the confession of faith by the 
churches in Somerset and the counties adjacent/'* 
The inference is also strengthened by the circum- 
stance that many of the early English Baptists^ 
coming from the Low Countries, followed the 
woollen trade, for which this town was long noted. 
I have mentioned in the history of the Honiton 
congregation, that Mr. Jerom Maynard, its zealous 
founder, went to Moreton to learn that trade, pro- 
bably in the year 1690, and, during his appren- 
ticeship, was connected with a General Baptist 
Society. 

There is also a tradition that the Baptists at 
Moreton once suffered dreadful persecution. If 
they did not they escaped the fate of their brethren, 
and the founders of their churches in other parts 
of the kingdom. The Government, drawing no 
distinction between the harmless religionists who 
fled to this country for protection and the dan- 
gerous fanatics of the same name in Holland, per- 
secuted the former without mercy. In 1535, four- 
teen Hollanders, several if not all of whom were 
stigmatized as Anabaptists, on account of their 
heresies," were burnt by pairs, in various places ; 
and it is not a little remarkable that those heresies 
were attributed to the use of the Scriptures, which 
were then becoming known, in consequence of the 

* Crosby, Vol. i. ; Appendix, p. 27. 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



465 



Reformation, followed by the pious efforts of Tindale 
and Coverdale. Fuller says "that, in 1538, a match 
being made between King Henry and the Lady 
Anne of Cleve, Dutchmen flocked faster than usual 
into England, and soon after began to broach their 
strange opinions, being branded ivith the general 
name of Anabaptists."* — ''I read (he continues) that 
four of them, three men and one woman, all Dutch ^ 
bare faggots at Paul's Cross, and, three days after, 
a man and woman, of their sect, were burnt in 
Smithfield."-]- Latimer while preaching before 

* Fuller's Church History, Book iv. p. 229. 

f If any apology may be offered for the severity with which these per- 
sons were treated, it must be found in the crimes committed by their 
countrymen of the same denomination, about this time, in many parts of 
Europe. A distinction undoubtedly ought to have been drawn, as I have 
intimated above, between the innocent and the criminal members of this 
sect ; but our surprise at the persecution of the former is lessened by the 
account which historians have given us of the " rebellious principles and 
tumultuary proceedings" of the Anabaptists in Germany, Switzerland, and 
Holland. " There stands upon record (says Mosheim) a most shocking 
instance of this, in the dreadful commotions that were excited at Munster, 
in 1533, by some Dutch Anabaptists, who chose that city as the scene of 
their horrid operations, and committed in it such deeds as would surpass all 
credibility, were they not attested in a manner that excludes every degree 
of doubt and uncertainty. A handful of madmen, w^ho had gotten into 
their heads the visionary notion of a new and spiritual kingdom, soon to 
be established in an extraordinary manner, formed themselves into a so- 
ciety, under the guidance of a few illiterate leaders chosen out of the popu- 
lace ; and they persuaded, not only the ignorant multitude, but even 
several among the learned, that Munster was to be the seat of this new 
and heavenly Jerusalem, whose spiritual dominion was thence to be pro- 
pagated to all parts of the earth. The bold ringleaders of this furious 
tribe were, John Matthison, John Bockhold, a tailor of Leyden, one 
Gerard, with some others, whom the blind rage of enthusiasm, or the still 
more culpable principles of sedition, had embarked in this extravagant 
and desperate cause. They made themselves masters of the city of Muns- 
ter, deposed the magistrates, and committed all the enormous crimes, and 
ridiculous folHes, which the most perverse and infernal imagination could 
suggest. John Bockhold was proclaimed king and legislator of this new 

2 H 



466 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



Edward VI., thus testified to the fortitude with 
which they suffered. * The Anabaptists that were 
burnt here in divers towns in England, as I heard 
of credible men, I saw them not myself, went to 

hierarchy : but his reign was transitory, and his end deplorable ; for Muns- 
ter was, in 1536, retaken after a long siege by its bishop and sovereign 
Count Waldeck, the new Jerusalem of the Anabaptists destroyed, and its 
mock monarch punished with a most painful and ignominious death. The 
disorders occasioned by the Anabaptists at this period, not only in West- 
phalia but also in other parts of Germany, shewed too plainly to what 
horrid extremities the pernicious doctrines of this wrong-headed sect were 
calculated to lead the inconsiderate and unwary." 

" The progress of this turbulent sect (says the same author in a preced- 
ing paragraph) in almost all the countries of Europe, alarmed all who had 
any concern for the public good. Princes and sovereign states exerted 
themselves to check these rebellious enthusiasts in their career, by issuing 
out, first, severe edicts to restrain their violence, and employing, at length, 
capital punishments to conquer their obstinacy. But here a maxim, al- 
ready verified by repeated experience, received a new degree of confirma- 
tion; for the conduct of the Anabaptists, under the pressure of persecution, 
plainly shewed the extreme difficulty of correcting or influencing, by the 
prospect of suffering, or even by the terrors of death, minds that are either 
deeply tainted with the poison of fanaticism, or firmly bound by the ties of 
religion. In almost all the countries of Europe, an unspeakable number 
of these unhappy wretches preferred death, in its worst forms, to a retrac- 
tion of their errors. Neither the view of the flames that were kindled to 
consume them, nor the ignominy of the gibbet, nor the terrors of the 
sword, could shake their invincible, but ill placed constancy, or make them 
abandon tenets that appeared dearer to them than life and all its enjoy- 
ments." " But as the greatest part of these enthusiasts had com- 
municated to the multitude their visionary notions concerning the new 
spiritual kingdom that was soon to be erected, and the abolition of magis- 
tracy and civil government that was to be the immediate efl'ect of this 
great revolution, this rendered the very name of an Anabaptist unspeakably 
odious, and made it always excite the idea of a seditious incendiary, a pest 
to human society. It is true, that many Anabaptists sufl'ercd death, not 
on account of their being considered as rebellious subjects, but merely 
because they were judged to be incorrigible heretics ; for in this century 
the error of limiting the administration of baptism to adult persons only, 
and the practice of re-baptizing such as had received that sacrament in a 
state of infancy, were looked upon as most flagitious and intolerable here- 
sies." Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, Ed. 182(), Vol. iv. p. .390. 



* Latimer's Lent Sermons, p. r)(). 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 4^1 

their death even intrepid, as ye will say, without any 
fear in the world, cheerfully," In 1615, we find the 
tyranny of the civil magistrate growing with the 
growth and strengthening with the strength of these 
unfortunate men. That which the Baptists now 
chiefly inveigh against (says Crosby, in reference to 
this period) is the pride, luxury, and oppression of the 
lord bishops, or pretended spiritual power, whereby 
they were exposed to great hardships and cruel 
persecutions." Their sufferings were increas- 
ed rather than lessened. They were not only railed 
against in the pulpits under the names of Heretics, 
Schismatics, and Anabaptists, and harassed in the 
spiritual courts ; but the temporal sword was used 
against them ; their goods seized ; their persons con- 
fined in stinking gaols where they were deprived of 
their wives, children, and friends, till the Divine 
Majesty was pleased to release several of them by 
death."* Tracing the progress of this wicked 
spirit, we find it, in 1645, dictating an ordinance of 
Parliament against lay preaching, — a practice which 
prevailed to a greater extent among the Baptists 
than among any other denomination ; but though 
much inconvenience was occasioned by this arbitra- 
ry edict, it does not appear to have been strictly 
carried into effect. Proceeding still farther, we 
come to the reigns of Charles the Second and James 
the Second, whose names are associated with the 
most iniquitous cruelties towards Dissenters of 
every denomination. In the West of England those 

* Crosby, Vol. i. p. 129. 

2 H 2 



468 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



cruelties were peculiarly severe^ and there is reason 
to suppose that the Eaptist church at Moreton^ con- 
sisting as it did, of men attached both from educa- 
tion and conviction to the cause of religious liberty, 
experienced its full share of persecution. 

The other tradition preserved by the Baptists at 
Moreton, — that none of their ancestors believed the 
doctrine of the Trinity, is also in accordance v^ith 
general historical facts. Among the heretical opi- 
nions of which the fourteen Hollanders were ac- 
cused in 1535, and for which they were burnt to 
death, was the denying Christ to be both God and 
man. Bishop Burnefs account* of the ^'^ heresies" 
of the Anabaptists who were driven to England, in 
1547, by the Revolutions in Germany, is of the 
same nature, and leads to the conclusion that some 
of the earliest Unitarians in this country were advo- 
cates of adult baptism. Upon Luther's first 
preaching in Germany (says Burnet) there arose 
many who, building on some of his principles, car- 
ried things much further than he did. The chief 
foundation he laid down was, that the Scripture 
was to be the only rule of Christians. Upon this, 
many argued that the mysteries of the Trinity and 
Christ's incarnation and sufferings, of the fall of 
man and the aids of grace were, indeed, philo- 
sophical subtilties and only pretended to be deduced 
from Scripture, as almost all opinions of religion 
were, and, therefore, they rejected them. Among 
these the baptism of infants was one." From the 

* History of the Reformation, Vol. ii. p. 110. 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



469 



middle of the sixteenth to that of the seventeenth 
century^ the persecutions which the Baptists en- 
dured were occasioned as much by their rejection 
of the commonly received opinions concerning the 
doctrine of the Trinity^ as by their advocacy of 
adult baptism. It is true that, in the year 1646, 
seven congregations in London, commonly called 
Anabaptists, published a confession of faith,* one 
of the articles of which relates to the existence of 
^^the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit," -j- ''in 
one Divine and infinite Being," — but this differs 
materially from the orthodox" Trinity ; and it is 
remarkable that the confession of the churches '' in 
Somerset and the counties adjacent," in which the 
Moreton Baptists probably joined, omits all men- 
tion of this perplexing and often disputed doctrine. 

The Baptist congregation at Moreton appear to 
have ministered to each other in holy things till the 
beginning of the last century. The first name on 
my list of pastors is Henry Terry, who undertook 
the office about the year 1720, removed to Tiverton 
in 1731, and died there in 1759. \ He was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Foot — a name well known, for many 

* Crosby, Vol. i. Appendix, p. 7. 

t Even here we have an instance of the desire of the early Baptists to 
be guided by what they deemed the word of God alone. Their belief that 
" the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit," were one God was, doubtless, 
founded on the well known passage 1 John v. 7, where, and where only, 
those words occur in juxta-position. It may be questioned whether they 
would have held the doctrine of the Trinity in any form, if with their views 
of the sufficiency of Scripture, and the danger of deducing opinions not 
clearly stated, they had known, what the best divines on all sides now 
admit, that the passage in the Epistle of St John is a forgery. 

X Mr. Wilson's MSS. 



470 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



years^ among the Dissenters of Bristol, to which 
place he removed in the course of five or six years. 
The congregation were then served by Mr. Richard 
Harrison, of whom there is a short memoir in con- 
nexion with the account of the General Baptist 
church at Taunton, where he was settled eighteen 
years. This gentleman was succeeded by a Mr. 
Thomas, who appears to have undertaken the 
charge in the autumn of 1738, mention being made, 
in the church books, of the expense of his journey 
and the carriage of his goods at that period. Mr. 
Thomas quitted Moreton in 1760, and was followed 
by Mr. Collier, w^ho, after serving the church twenty 
years, died, and was succeeded by Mr. Isaac, — ^the 
last Baptist minister. 

It does not appear that this society was at any 
time very numerous. They assembled for many 
years in a building for which they paid rent; their 
present meeting-house was built in 1786. Mr. 
Isaac, soon after the commencement of whose mi- 
nistry this humble edifice was raised, was a de- 
cided Unitarian. There is a marble tablet, over 
the pulpit, with the following inscription, to the 
memory of his predecessor : — 

John Collier, twenty years Pastor of this Church: died 
THE 14th OF December, 1780. In respect to his memory this 

MARBLE is PLACED BY HIS WiDOW. 

Our FRIEND Lazarus sleepeth. 

Jesus, 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



471 



THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

This society was founded by Mr. Robert Wool- 
combe, who was ejected from the living of Moreton, 
in 1662. Many of his congregation adhered to 
him, and provided a place of worship, in which 
they assembled, till prevented by Acts of Parlia- 
ment. They then met as often as they could in 
secret, sometimes in neighbouring woods ; but their 
adversaries watched them, and procured informers 
to swear against them. On several occasions they 
were brought before magistrates, had their houses 
rifled and their goods confiscated ; and to complete 
all, their worthy minister, who had been expelled 
five miles from the town, was seized while paying 
a visit to his flock and committed to prison. * 

This persecution lasted with little intermission 
till 1687, when Mr. Woolcombe and eleven others 
procured a licence, dated at Whitehall, and signed 
by the Earl of Sunderland. For this licence a con- 
siderable sum of money is said to have been extort- 
ed from the humble flock; — a circumstance ren- 
dered particularly mortifying by the appearance, a 
few weeks afterwards, of the general declaration of 
liberty of conscience. In the first year of the reign 
of William and Mary, their prospects became still 
brighter in consequence of the passing of the Act of 
Toleration, which enabled Mr. Woolcombe to dis- 

* These particulars are chiefly taken from a MS. account drawn up by 
a member of the congregation, and sent me by the Rev. J. Smethurst. 



472 



M O R ET ON- H AM PS T E A D . 



charge his duties^ fearlessly, till his death. It is 
recorded that during the twenty-five years between 
the ejectment and the licence, the rent of the house 
and the salary of the minister were regularly paid. 

The first place of worship was a dwelling house/ 
converted to that purpose, after the Act of Tolera- 
tion, and before the death of Mr. Woolcombe. The 
latter event occurred in 1692, and was followed by 
a division in the congregation. The house being 
the property of the minority, a new one was 
erected for the majority, chiefly at the expense 
of the Eev. Angel Sparke. This gentleman was 
ordained here in 1692, and was the only regular 
Presbyterian minister in the town, from the death 
of Mr. Woolcombe till his own ; to him was paid 
the rent of the new meeting-house. During his 
ministry, the minority rejoined their brethren and 
the original meeting house was quitted. Mr. 
Sparke's auditors were, consequently, very nume- 
rous ; — in 1715, they amounted to six hundred ; and 
the new meeting-house being too small for them 
was enlarged, by voluntary subscriptions, in 1718. 
Thirty years afterwards, this building and the 
garden adjoining were purchased of Mr. Sparke's 
relatives, by means of the contributions of the So- 
ciety, in the name of Mr. Richard Heard, and in 
the year 1760 it was, by him, assigned to trustees^ 
for the use of the congregation for the term of nine 
hundred and ninety-eight years. One more change 
must be mentioned ; — the meeting-house, when it 
had been built about a century, became ruinous and 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



473 



was taken down. In November^ 1801, the minis- 
ter and congregation left the old building and com- 
menced attending at the General Baptist chapel, 
where they worshiped nearly twelve months. On 
the 12th of February, 1802, Mr. Eowland laid the 
first stone of the new house, and on the 31st of 
October, in the same year, it was opened: — the 
Rev. James Manning, of Exeter, preaching in the 
morning and afternoon. The chapel will seat three 
hundred and twenty persons. A builder at Exeter 
agreed to erect it for £269. 16s., and the materials 
of the old place of worship. There is a burial- 
ground attached to the present building. rK>->niBbr 
The ministers from the death of Mr. Sparke, in 
1721 to the union of the two congregations, were 
Micaijah Towgood, Daniel Harson, John Parr^ 
James Rowland, James Hews Bransby, Thomas 
Cooper, and John Smethurst. The congregation] 
were frequently without a settled pastor. After the 
death of Mr. Rowland, in January, 1803, they were 
supplied by two students from the academy at 
Exeter, under the direction of the Rev. T. Kenrick 
and the Rev. T. Bretland ; these were Mr. Shute, 
who, afterwards, accepted an invitation from Shep- 
ton Mallet, and Mr. Bransby, who became pastor of 
the Moreton society, September 30th, 1804. In 
the following year, Mr. Bransby, removed to Dudley; 
and for the next eleven years, the congregation had 
no pastor. During a great part of this interval, 
services were regularly conducted by Mr. Thomas 
Mardon, Mr. Thomas White, and Mr Edward 



474 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD, 



White^ members of the congregation, and for the 
last two or three years, exclusively by the last of 
these gentlemen. In the summer of 1815, the 
Eev. Thomas Cooper entered into an engagement 
with the society, which continued till Lady-day, 
1817, when he went to Jamaica. A few months 
afterwards, Mr. Smethurst, the present minister, 
quitted the Rev. R. Aspland's Academy at Hackney, 
where Mr. Cooper had also been educated, and 
entered on his pastoral duties at Moreton. On the 
the union of the two congregations, at the close of 
the following year, the worshipers in the Presby- 
terian chapel amounted to about one hundred and 
fifty. At present, the numbers average eighty in 
the morning, and two hundred in the afternoon. 
All are united as worshipers of the only living and 
true God and disciples of his beloved Son ; all pro- 
fess the simple faith of the early Christians, To 
MS there is one God the Father, and one Mediator 
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ^ 



GENERAL BAPTIST. 



John Collier 
Jacob Isaac. . 



Henry Terry . 
William Foot 



Richard Harrison, M.A 
Thomas 



1720—1731. 
1731—1736. 
1736—1738. 
1738—1760. 
1760—1780. 
1780—1818. 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



475 



PRESBYTERIAN. 



Robert Woolcombe, M.A 1662—1692. 

Angel Sparke 1692—1721. 

MiCAIJAH TOWGOOD 1722—1736. 

Daniel Harson 1737—1742. 

John Parr 1743 — 1775. 

James Rowland 1776 — 1803. 

James Hews Bransby 1804—1805. 

Thomas Cooper 1815—1817. 

John Smethurst 1817. 



Robert Woolcombe, M. A., bom at Chudleigh, where his 
grandfather was minister. Presented to the living of Moreton 
bj one of the Courtney family, and ordained at Dartmouth, in 
1657. He was a hard student, a great philosopher, a sound 
solid preacher, and a courageous advocate of Nonconformity. 
For this he lost not only a good benefice, but a good estate ; his 
father disinherited him, and made his son his heir, charging in 
his will that he should not have the educating of him. How- 
ever, he lived comfortably and contentedly, and found " a good 
conscience a continual feast." He died at his house in Chud- 
leigh, 1692.* 

William Foot was bom at Plymouth, in 1 707. He re- 
ceived the rudiments of his education in his native town, and 
prosecuted his studies first under the Rev. Henry Grove, of 
Taunton, and afterwards under the Rev. John Alexander, of 
Stratford'upon-Avon. In 1728, Mr. Foot became the pastor of 
a Calvinistic Baptist congregation at Tiverton ; in 1731, he re- 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 334. 



476 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



moved to Moreton-Hampstead ; and in 1736 to Bristol, where 
he officiated to a small society of General Baptists, in Callow- 
Hill Street. About the same time, he opened a classical school 
on St. Michael's Hill, which he conducted with great reputa- 
tion many jears ; in this establishment he was succeeded by 
Dr. Estlin. 

As an author, Mr. Foot is principally known by his " Plain 
Account of the Ordinance of Baptism," in a course of letters to 
Dr. Hoadly, Bishop of Winchester. These letters appeared in 
two distinct publications, the first was printed in 1756, and the 
other in 1758. A complete edition was published in 1766, and 
a third edition, with a biographical sketch of the author, by Dr. 
Toulmin, in 1787. These letters have obtained extensive circu- 
lation both in England and America. Mr. Foot's earliest publi- 
cation was "x\ Practical Discourse concerning Baptism," the 
first edition of which appeared in 1739, and the second in 1750; 
another was published in 1820, with a valuable fragment of the 
author's on Christian communion, breathing a liberal and truly 
Christian spirit. This edition owes its existence to my esteem- 
ed relative the Rev. W, H. JNlurcb, Theological Tutor of the 
Baptist College at Stepney. Mr. Foot was also the author of a 
small work on Education, designed to explain the course of 
studies pursued in his own school. 

Mr. Foot was married, during his residence at Tiverton, to 
Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. John Murch, of Plymouth, and left 
two daughters, — Elizabeth, who became the wife of Mr. ^Merlott, 
an Alderman of Bristol, and Mary, who died unmarried a few 
years since in the same city. These ladies manifested the value 
of the example and instructions of their revered parent ; many 
are there who would bear willing and grateful testimony to their 
amiable dispositions, the warmth of their devotional sentiments, 
and their judicious, ever active benevolence. Mr. Foot's religi- 
ous opinions underwent a considerable change after he entered 
upon the ministry, and at the close of his life were either Arian 
or Unitarian. The following inscription is found in the Ba}>tist 
burial-ground, Red- cross, Bristol : — 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



477 



"To THE MEMORY OF THE ReV. AND LEARNED WiLLIAM FoOT, FOR 
MANY YEARS MINISTER OF THE GoSPEL IN THIS CITY. He DIED 

May 13th, 1782, in the 75th year of his age. Undissembled 

PIETY, INTEGRITY, CANDOUR, AND LIBERALITY, EMINENTLY DIS- 
TINGUISHED HIS CHARACTER. Go, READER, STUDY LIKE HIM TO 
APPROVE THYSELF UNTO GoD, AND THY LATTER END, LIKE HIS, 
WILL BE PEACE." * 



John Collier was born at Trowbridge, in the year 1720. 
His father, a respectable tradesman, was great-grandson of the 
Rev. Thomas Collier, a Yorkshire clergyman, who published 
many theological treatises, and in particular " A Body of Divi- 
nity," which, with its endless divisions and sub- divisions, and 
its labyrinth of postulates, proofs, and corollaries, was once, 
agreeably to the taste of the age, held in considerable esteem. 

The subject of this notice received the rudiments of his edu- 
cation in a humble cottage-seminary at the foot of the Mendip- 
hills. He soon, however, had the privilege of being removed to 
a far better school, at Bridgwater, where he enjoyed the most 
favourable opportunities of satisfying his thirst for knowledge. 
From his childhood, he possessed strong powers of intellect, and 
was scrupulous on all occasions in obeying the dictates of his 
conscience : but it was not before he attained his twenty-sixth 
year, that, yielding to the wishes of his parents, he resolved to 
devote himself to the ministry. In 1747, he became a student 
in the Dissenting Academy at Kendal. That institution was 
under the able superintendance of the Rev. Dr. Rotheram ; and 
had the merit of sending forth many gentlemen who afterwards 
distinguished themselves in the Nonconformist churches and in 
the various walks of literature and science. Mr. Collier's dili- 
gence was unremitting, and he was warmly esteemed both by 
his tutor and fellow-students. 

In 1751, in consequence of Dr. Rotheram's declining health, 
the academy was discontinued. Upon this, Mr. Collier went to 

* Evans's History of Bristol, Vol. ii. p. 326. 



578 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



London, where he remained three years. During that period, 
he devoted many hours of every day to the study of medicine, 
and he was regularly, once or twice a week, an attendant in the 
dissecting rooms of the hospitals. On lea^dng the metropolis, 
he took up his abode at Trowbridge ; and was soon chosen to be 
pastor of the General Baptists in that town, in conjunction with 
Mr. Waldron. He also undertook the pastoral charge of a 
similar society at Southwick, a village about two miles from 
Trowbridge.* His domestic prospects were brightened by his 
marriage with Miss Sarah Wereat, the daughter of an opulent 
farmer in the neighbourhood. 

Mr. Collier's pulpit services were very generally admired, so 
much so, that in the spring of 1760, the Baptist Society at 
Moreton sent a deputation to Trowbridge for the purpose of 
urging him to settle among them. At first, he turned a deaf 
ear to the proposal. His resolution, however, gave way to 
repeated importunities, and before the close of the year, he re- 
moved to Moreton. Here he continued to reside until his death, 
which occurred after a short illness in the sixtieth year of his 
age. He was interred in the churchyard at Moreton, as the 
Dissenters had then no burying-ground of their own. His fmie- 
ral sermon was preached by his friend Mr. (afterwards Dr.) 
Toulmin. 

Mr. Collier was a man of reading and reflection. His 
favourite book was the Bible. All his inquiries were guided 
by an ardent desire to know the truth ; and he had the intre- 
pidity of a mart}T. No false shame, no dread of consequences 
to himself, could deter him from the open avowal of his conWc- 
tions. Many of his friends were desirous that he should take 
out a diploma, and practise as a physician ; but, attached as he 

* This information was not received until after the account of the 
Trowbridge and Southwick churches had passed through the press. It 
appears from the above statement, that Mr. Collier w^as connected with 
the Trowbridge church from 1754 to 1/60. His name does not appear in 
the Trowbridge church-book ; nor did my correspondent in that town dis- 
cover any traces of his ministry there. The records, however, of the 
transactions at this period are obx iously imperfect. 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



479 



was through life to medical inquiries, he declined the honour 
and emoluments of the profession, and found his chief happiness 
among his books, in the discharge of his pastoral duties, and in 
the endearments of his home. To the poor he was particularly 
kind ; nothing could exceed the activity with which he minis- 
tered, especially in the hour of sickness, to their wants. His 
medical advice was always at their service, and many were the 
cases in which it was given with success. * 



James Rowland, born at St. David's, in Pembrokeshire, 
about the year 1756. Settled at Moreton when he was twenty- 
one years of age, and died of an apoplectic fit when he had 
lived there about twenty-six years. During the greater part of 
the time he kept a grammar school. His death occurred at 
Lamerton, where he was visiting a friend, and by its suddenness 
made a great impression upon the congregation. The Rev. 
James Manning, of Exeter, preached a useful and affecting 
funeral sermon on the following Sunday, from the words of our 
Saviour, John xi. 25 : "I am the resurrection and the life." 



Jacob Isaac. Of Mr. Isaac's education and early life I 
have not been able to obtain any particulars. He became the 
minister of the General Baptist congregation at More ton- Hamp- 
stead, in 1780, and continued in that office till his death, De- 
cember 2, 1818. He married the only daughter of his prede- 
cessor Mr. Collier, and, in course of time, his connexion with 
the Dissenting ministry was further strengthened by the marri- 
age of his own daughter to the Rev. J. H. Bransby, who was, 
for a short time, the Presbyterian Pastor at Moreton. Mr. 
Isaac was one of the earliest supporters of the Western Unita- 
rian Society; and, in 1798, he delivered an excellent sermon at 
the annual meeting, "On the Consolations of Pure Christianity," 



* Communicated by the Rev. J. H. Bransby. 



480 



MORETON-HAMPSTEAD. 



wMcli was immediately published. The following sketch of his 
character concludes the very brief notice of the death of Mr. 
Isaac in the Monthly Repository : " For deep and habitual 
seriousness of spirit, for the most engaging simplicity of manners, 
for midaunted zeal in the cause of his Divine Master, for a gene- 
rous, delicate regard to the sorrows of the poor, the sick and the 
destitute, and for pious gratitude and resignation, amidst agonies 
that human skill could neither remove nor soften, he has left 
behind him a name, on which his family and friends will long 
muse with a melancholy joy." * 



* Mon. Repos., Vol. xiii. p. 772= 



TAVISTOCK. 



"On the banks of the Tamar, which divides this parish from Corn- 
wall, are several enchanting, picturesque views. That river is in 
Cornwall, and navigable to ships of two hundred tons, within four 
miles of the town of Tavistock. The Duke of Bedford hath five 
manors here, which comprehend almost the whole parish ; — the manor 
of Tavistock — of Hurdwick — of Morvell — of Ogbear — of Parswell — 
and Blanch Dovm Chase. There are very good quarries of excellent 
slate in this parish. The town of Tavistock is situated near the south 
extremity of the parish, on the river Tavy, in a very fruitful vale, in 
that part almost triangular; it is surrounded with hills, and is in the 
manor of Tavistock." — Polwhele. 

Population in 1811,-4723; in 1821,-5483; in 1831,-5602. 



2 I 



ABBEY CHAPEL. 



The history of this congregation derives much of 
its interest from its connexion with the history of the 
house of Eussell. My readers need not be reminded 
of the many public efforts which have been made 
by this illustrious family to promote the cause of 
civil and religious liberty. But it is not so well 
known that their private transactions are equally 
praiseworthy ; — that, though attached to the Church 
of England and anxious to render it pure and effi- 
cient they yet encourage, within each sphere of 
their influence, the fullest exercise of the rights of 
conscience. It is now peculiarly interesting to con- 
template their conduct at Tavistock two hundred 
years ago ; to see them, when religious liberty was 
so ill understood — when fanaticism on the one hand 
and tyranny on the other rendered useful interfe- 
rence so difficult — boldly throw the shield of their 
sanction over the oppressed Nonconformists, and 
allow them to worship where none could dare to 
make them afraid.* 

* William, the third Eai'l of Bedford, to whom this history refers, was 
the father of the celebrated Lord William Russell. He is represented by 
his distinguished descendant Lord John Russell, as having "steered a 
wavering and unsteady course" during the ciA'il conflicts of the times. 



TAVISTOCK. 



483 



About the middle of the seventeenth century, the 
living of Tavistock being vacant, the Earl of Bed- 
ford promised to present and pay any minister 
whom the inhabitants should choose. They accord- 
ingly fixed upon Mr. Thomas Larkham, who in 
early life had been compelled by the tyranny of the 
bishops to take refuge in New England, but return- 
ed to his native land just at this period.* While 
labouring with great zeal and success, he was eject- 
ed by the Act of Uniformity. His attached congre- 
gation, unwilling to be deprived of his services, 
applied in their perplexity to the Countess of Bed- 
ford, who was pre-eminently distinguished by pious 
and amiable qualities. Her ladyship not only lis- 
tened to their application with much kindness, but 
solicited the Earl to allow them an asylum in some 

But the noble author adds, that " the situation of affairs might have dis- 
turbed the resolution of the wisest heads." — Life of Lord William Russell. 

We find no proofs of indecision in the notices of the protection afforded 
by the Earl of Bedford to those who were suffering for conscience' sake. 
It was his patriot-son, however, who laid the foundation of the glorious 
fame of the family. The present statesman has thus been addressed by a 
modern poet : 

" Whose nobility comes to thee, stamped with a seal 
Far, far more ennobling than monarch e'er set ; 
With the blood of thy race offered up for the weal 
Of a nation that swears by that martjrrdom yet. 
#******* 

" Like the boughs of that laurel, by Delphi's decree 

Set apart for the fane, and its service divine ; 
All the branches that spring from the old Russell tree 
Are by Liberty claimed for the use of her shrine." 

Lines addressed to Lord John Russell, on his intimating some idea of giving 
up political pursuits. From the Morning Chronicle, 1819, 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 407. 

2 1 2 



484 



TAVISTOCK. 



vacant apartment of the Abbey; and he complied 
with her request by granting them the free use of 
the Eefectory as their place of worship. He also 
ordered an annuity of ten pounds to be paid for pro- 
moting the objects of the society. From that time 
to the present the congregation have continued to 
assemble in this venerable building, and the annuity 
has been regularly paid. 

" Pleasant (said William of Malmesbury) is the 
Abbey amidst the woods, that stand so conveniently 
around it." And from other descriptions which 
have been handed down to us, it appears that both 
the situation and the building were well worthy the 
attention of the traveller.* But Time, the great 

* The following account by Risdon, written before the year 1630, con- 
tains many curious particulars. He had been relating the well-known 
story of Edgar, Ethelwold, and Elflida, — Orgarius, the father of Elflida, 
and Duke of Devon, having kept his court at Tavistock. 

" Ordolph, son of the said duke, made choice of this place as fittest to 
lay the foundation of an abbey, which was the original of conducing fame 
to the town, being thereunto admonished by a vision, anno 961. Which 
monastery he replenished with black monks, Augustines, and consecrated 
it to St. Mary and St. Burien. By whose ruins you may now aim at the 
antique magnificence thereof; where once you might have seen the sculp- 
ture of Orgarius aforenamed, and the huge proportion of his son Ordulph's 
tomb ; for he was of a large stature, and giant-like strength. St. Rumon, 
much spoken of as bishop of the place, lieth there likewise interred. And 
in that abbey lies buried Edwin, son of King Ethelred, (as saith Malms- 
bury,) treacherously slain by the Danes, whom, for his regardless deport- 
ment, or otherwise, by way of reproach, they called king of the churls. 
This monastery had scarcely attained to thirty years, before it was devas- 
tated by these merciless Danes, who spared not religious houses more than 
other buildings. Notwithstanding, it revived again, and by a laudable 
ordinance, had lectures read in the ancient Saxon tongue, and so con- 
tinued to our grandsires' days to preserve the antiquities, laws, and his- 
tories formerly written in that language, from oblivion ; a thing almost 
now come to pass. This fabric was endowed by the pious charity of that 
age with large possessions, which, at the fatal downfall of such structures, 
was valued at <£'.)02. bs. 7d., and thereby the abbot grown rich and proud, 



TAVISTOCK. 



485 



destroyer of all things, has only spared a few frag- 
ments of the ancient edifice, and these are chiefly 
incorporated with other buildings. The Abbey 
Church, described by Leland as one hundred and 

his ambition affected a mitre, and then aspired to be admitted a baron of 
the higher house of parliament, and lastly, to contend with Hugh Oldham, 
bishop of Exon. Which Oldham dying — pendente lite — was excommuni- 
cated, whereby his executors were forced to sue to the court of Rome for 
a dispensation from the pope ere he might be buried." — Risdon's Survey 
of Devon, p. 212. 

The visiter at Tavistock especially, if he be a friend to the diffusion of 
knowledge, should also be aware of the following facts, as they are re- 
corded by a modern writer : " An institution for the study of Saxon lite- 
rature existed in Tavistock at a very early period, and lectures were read 
in that language in a building purposely appropriated, and called the 
Saxon School. These lectures were discontinued about the period of the 
Reformation ; and though they are reported to have been recommenced in 
the reign of Charles the First, the evidence to the circumstance is by no 
means satisfactory. Several of the Abbots were learned men; and the en- 
couragement they gave to literature is evident, by the establishment of a 
printing-press in the Abbey, within a few years of the time when the art 
was brought into England. Among the books that issued from this press 
was Walton's Translation of Boetius de Consolatione, ' emprented in the 
exempte Monastery of Tavestoke in Denshyre, by me Dan Thomas Ry- 
chard, monke of the said Monastery,' 1525, quarto; and the 'Confirma- 
tion of the Tynners Charter,' twenty-sixth of Henry the Eighth ; sixteen 
leaves quarto. Bishop Gibson also mentions a Saxon Grammar as having 
been printed here about the commencement of the Civil Wars ; but this 
assertion is supposed by other antiquaries to be unfounded." — Beauties of 
England and Wales, Vol. iv. p. 220. 

I venture to add another extract explanatory of the changes which en- 
sued. — "The riches of the Abbots continuing to increase, their pride seems 
to have proportionably augmented ; and Richard Barham, the thirty-lifth 
Abbot, procured from Henry the Eighth the privilege of sitting in the 
house of Peers ; or, in other words, was mitred ; probably, says Browne 
Willis, by purchase, in order to be revenged on Hugh Oldham, Bishop of 
Exeter, with whom he had great disputes, and at length occasioned him 
to be excommunicated. The patent by which this Abbot was honoured 
with a mitre is dated the twenty- third of January, 1513 ; but the privilege 
continued only till the year 1539, when John Peryn, the thirty-sixth and 
last Abbot, surrendered his monastery, and had the annual salary of ^100. 
settled on him for life. The same year the possession of the Abbey, with 
the borough and town of Tavistock, were given by the King to John, Lord 
Russel."— Ibid., Vol. iv. p. 218. 



486 



TAVISTOCK. 



twenty-six yards in length ; the extensive cloisters, 
the magnificent chapter-house, have long been com- 
pletely demolished. In the year 1736, the ruins of 
the latter v^ere removed, and a neat house erected 
on its site for the residence of the Duke of Bedford's 
steward. Near this interesting spot are the parish 
church, dedicated to St. Eustachius, and the prin- 
cipal inn, whose stables bear traces of very ancient 
architecture ; and here the three principal streets 
of the town now meet. It is remarkable that, 
amidst all the alterations and innovations which 
have been made during a hundred and forty years, 
the humble society of Dissenters have been allowed, 
unmolested, to retain their quiet sanctuary. While 
some of the monastic apartments have been con- 
verted to warehouses, and other spots still more 
sacred to devout meditation have become the scenes 
of worldly bustle and anxiety, the old hall has re- 
mained to be the sabbath-home of humble and 
contrite worshipers, the suppliant children of one 
Father — God, — the grateful disciples of one Master 
— Jesus Christ! 

The succession of ministers in this interesting 
building is easily traced by means of the register of 
baptisms. Mr. Larkham lived only seven years 
after his ejectment. In this interval the feeling 
against him, as the champion of Nonconformity, 
was so strong, that he was threatened with im- 
prisonment if he went beyond his house. His whole 
life was spent in resisting persecution. Soon after 
he quitted Jesus College, Cambridge, his ])uritanical 



TAVISTOCK. 



487 



opinions involved him in a variety of vexatious 
suits ; and he experienced, in quick succession, the 
tender mercies of the Star-Chamber, the High- 
Commission Court, the Consistory at Exeter, and 
other tribunals. The malice of some of his enemies 
followed him even after his death, and would have 
prevented his interment in the church; but the 
steward of the Earl of Bedford interposed, and he 
was buried in that part of the chancel which belong- 
ed to the house of Russell.* 

After Mr. Larkham's death, Mr. Pears e, who had 
been ejected from the living of Dunsford, preached 
privately at Tavistock, and continued to do so till 
the Revolution, when he opened a Dissenting place 
of worship at Ashburton.f His successor was Mr. 
Henry Flamanck^ another ejected minister, — a 
branch of an ancient and respectable Cornish 
family — a very genteel man, of considerable learn- 
ing, great natural abilities, a clear head, a strong 
memory, and lively affections. "J The congregation 
at Tavistock during his ministry was large, and he 
laboured with great success till his death, which 
occurred in 1692. 

The first minister at the Abbey Chapel educated 
by Dissenters was Mr. Jacob Sandercock. He 
came to Tavistock in 1688, and preached four years 
as Mr. Flamanck's assistant. It was in compliance 
with Mr. Flamanck's recommendation on his death- 
bed, that Mr. Sandercock was appointed his succes- 

* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 407. f Ibid. p. 357. 

X Ibid. p. 278. 



488 



TAVISTOCK. 



sor. The latter gentleman was particularly noted 
for sustaining the dignity of his office, but he also 
secured the affection of his hearers, and largely 
promoted the cause of the Dissenters. He died in 
1729, and was succeeded by Mr. Peter Jillard, 
whose ministerial services were continued here 
eleven years. At this period the town abounded 
with poor persons, for whose welfare Mr. Jillard 
was unceasingly anxious, — ^not confining his efforts 
to the pulpit, but labouring in various ways on their 
behalf In Dr. Gibbons's life of Dr. Watts,* there 
is a pleasing account of his benevolent efforts to 
establish a charity-school in Tavistock, our admira- 
tion of which efforts is increased by the circum- 
stance that the parents of most of the children be- 
longed to the Church of England, and were only 
desired to take them to some place of worship. 

For three years after the removal of Mr. Jillard 
the society had no settled minister. In 1744, Mr. 
Merivale was ordained at Tavistock; he remained 
there till 1762, w^hen he left to preside over the 
Dissenting College at Exeter. The next minister 
was Mr. Bernard Dowdell, who died in 1772, and 
was succeeded by Mr. Theophilus Edwards, after- 
wards the minister of the Mint Chapel, Exeter. 
On the departure of Mr. Edwards in 1794, the con- 
gregation elected Mr. William Evans, the present 
pastor, who kindly furnished many of the particu- 
lars in this sketch. 



* Mentioned by Dr. Toulmin in his sermon on the death of Mr. Peter 
Jillard, son of the above-named minister. Sec supra, ]>. 172. 



TAVISTOCK. 



489 



The history of the opinions of the society is thus 
faithfully stated by Mr. Evans : " During a whole 
century from the commencement of Protestant Dis- 
sent, the breeze of controversy yvas seldom or ever 
stirred by the voice of presbyter or deacon in 
Tavistock Abbey. Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy 
never thought of comparing notes, in flats or sharps, 
about their creeds ; but, instead of ' searching the 
Scriptures daily/ dozed unanimously in the bed of 
sloth, like their forefathers of the mitre and crosier. 
The congregation was numerous till it was split 
into parties by difference of opinion, and another 
chapel was erected by the Calvinists. The Pres- 
byterian, now surnamed Unitarian, society, has 
flourished with singular uniformity for more than 
forty years, sustained by the zeal of a few of its 
members and the concurrence of the common 
people." 

In a turret of the edifice is a chapel library. A 
Sunday-school is also supported by the congrega- 
tion. Thus do the well-informed of the present day 
employ the talents committed to their care. And 
thus is the belief in the animating doctrine of Pro- 
vidence confirmed and strengthened; — on the spot 
where an institution for the study of Saxon litera- 
ture existed — where knowledge was imparted suited 
to the wants of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
— the little child and the intelligent youth now 
receive instruction equally adapted to their circum- 
stances and the age in which they live. 



490 



TAVISTOCK. 



Thomas Larkham, M.A 1662—1669, 

William Pearse 1669—1688. 

Henry Flamanck 1688—1692. 

Jacob Sandercock 1688 — ]729. 

Peter Jillard 1730 — 1741. 

Samuel Merivale 1744 — 1760. 

Bernard Dowdell ]762 — 1772. 

Theophilus Edwards 1772 — 1794. 

William Evans 1794. 



Jacob Sandercock was a native of Cornwall. His parents 
beiiig in low circumstances, he was sent to a grammar-school 
by the kindness of a few friends. He received his education for 
the ministry in the Academy of Mr. Warren, at Taunton; and, 
when he had finished his studies, commenced preaching at 
Tiverton. In 1688, he removed to Tavistock to assist Mr. 
Flamanck, whom he eventually succeeded as pastor of the 
Abbey Congregation. Here he opened a school, notwithstandiug 
the threats of Trelawny, Bishop of Exeter. This domineering 
prelate insisted on his applying for episcopal leave to instruct 
the rising generation. Sandercock, however, set hitn at de- 
fiance ; and the Bishop, in a letter to a correspondent, expressed 
his determination to punish " that obstinate miscreant, the Pres- 
byterian of Tavistock." But it does not appear that his power 
was, in this instance, equal to his will. 

Mr. Sandercock's character is sketched by Mr. John Fox in 
the usual sarcastic style of that writer. While reading the fol- 
lowing extract, the reader will not forget that Mr. Fox was 
prone to dwell upon the foibles rather than the virtues of his 
friends. At the same time it will be remembered that it is only 



TAVISTOCK. 



491 



from such a writer the true state of Dissent at the period in 
question can be fully ascertained. 

" He was one of those Dissenting ministers who believed the cause 
of the Separation to be the cause of God, and this made him sit the 
easier with his people, who were of the true old stamp, and who still 
retain the same stiff, uncharitable disposition to a wonder. They had 
for many years been trained by Mr. Flamanck, who was one of the 
ejected ministers after the Restoration, and Mr. Sandercock knew 
very well how to encourage and confirm their party notions, and to 
keep up that spirit, which is not to be found in any congregation of 
Dissenters in this part of the kingdom. To this it must be owing that 
they sat with such great complacency and patience under his ministry 
for so many years ; for though he had clear notions as far as he went, 
and composed with judgment, yet he was the most dull, drowsy, dis- 
agreeable man in the pulpit I ever heard in my life. Though I do not 
remember to have heard any nonsense in his sermons and prayers, yet 
they were both delivered in a manner which was apt to lull every one 
to sleep. However, some amends was made for this ; for though he 
was tedious, he was never long in his performances, either in the 
church or in the family, it being a very commendable maxim with him 
never to make religion a burden. His sermons, for the matter of 
them, were like the rest among Dissenters ; he took great care to tell 
his people that he was one of Christ's ambassadors, and was vastly dis- 
pleased at any thing said or done to deprive them of that respect or 
power which they were invested with and ought to have. I remember, 
while I lived with him, he preached a long time on the text, * We, 
then, as ambassadors, in Christ's stead,' &c. ; and though I was then 
veiy young, I could not but take notice how earnestly he inculcated 
the notion of ambassadorship upon his hearers, and that he took much 
pains to make them believe that what he said as such, from the pulpit, 
was not only the word of God, but an ordinance really and strictly 
appointed by Him. By this art these ministers in general maintained 
that respect which was paid them. His notions in other matters did 
not run so high. He was in opinion among those who at that time 
were called Baxterians, that is, such as rejected the notions of true 
Calvinists, but yet were terribly afraid of being called or thought Ar- 
minians. For the difference between them is not so great, had they 
the honesty or courage to speak out. He was a very zealous pro- 
moter of the Assembly held twice yearly at Exeter, He found great 



492 



TAVISTOCK. 



emolument both to body and purse by giving his regular attendance. 
He had many presents and sums of money given him both from pri- 
vate people and the Fund, to both which he was constantly recom- 
mended by Mr. Walrond and some other leading ministers. I re- 
member he once made a journey to London, where, by Mr. Walrond's 
recommendation, he cleared ^100., besides all his expenses of going 
and coming. He was very often employed in reconciling family dif- 
ferences, in which he had very good success, for great deference was 
paid to his judgment by people of all denominations in the town. He 
was likewise very often consulted in politics ; for he was able to direct 
the votes of most of his hearers in time of an election, and therefore 
was in high esteem with the old Sir Francis Drake, by whom he hath 
often provided for such of his friends as wanted places. He main- 
tained his power and reputation to the end of his life, and was as much 
regarded and attended in the last stage of life as in the beginning." * 



Samuel Merivale was born at Northampton, and educated 
for the ministry under Dr. Doddridge, whose academy he enter- 
ed in 1734. One of his class-fellows was the excellent Mr. 
Orton, who describes him as " a most worthy, learned, and pious 
man." He settled first at Sleaford, in Lincolnshire, where he 
kept a grammar-school which was in great reputation. In this 
school Andrew Kippis received his preparatory education, and 
it was probably by Mr. Merivale's ad\'ice that he afterwards 
went to Northampton. In 1744, Mr. Merivale removed to 
Tavistock. Here he was ordained, and spent sixteen years with 
much honour and usefulness. His removal was occasioned by 
an invitation to undertake the office of Divinity Tutor in the 
New College at Exeter. , He entered upon his duties here in 
1760, his colleagues being Mr. Towgood and Mr. Turner. In 
3770 Mr. Turner died, and was succeeded by Mr. Thomas 
Jervis, whose appointment excited the hopes of all the friends 
of the College. But in the following year Mr. Merivale died ; 
and this event occasioned its dissolution. 



* Men. Rcpos., Vol. xvi. p. 258. 



TAVISTOCK. 



493 



The subject of this memoir published a small v^olume, en. 
titled " Daily Devotions for the Closet," which has passed 
through several editions. The last was published in 1829, with 
a preface hy Dr. Carpenter, and the addition of several valuable 
prayers from various sources. It was a favourite work with 
Mr. Orton; Dr. Stonehouse calls it an admirable book, — per- 
haps the best [of the kind] ever written ; he says, "it is far su- 
perior to Bishop Kenn's, being elegant, sensible, and devout." 
It is circulated by the Western Unitarian Society, as eminently 
calculated to aid their object — "the promotion of Christian 
knowledge and the practice of virtue." 

Mr. Merivale's character was justly described by Mr. Bretland, 
one of the earliest pupils in the Exeter Academy. After men- 
tioning the excellence of his conduct in domestic life, in dis- 
charging the duties of a Tutor, and in interesting and gratifying 
his friends, Mr. Bretland thus proceeds : 

" As a member of society, to the most cordial love of all mankind 
he joined the most anxious concern for the welfare of his native coun- 
try ; — filled with the true spirit of a Briton and a Protestant, he mani- 
fested a warm and generous resentment at every attempt to lessen the 
civil or religious liberty of his country ; and expressed the most ardent 
wishes for success to all schemes designed and well calculated to es- 
tablish its just rights in due extent, and on a proper and lasting basis. 
As a Christian, he was such not from the prejudices of education or 
worldly views, but from conviction : he diligently studied, and well 
understood both the evidences and the principles of his religion. He 
entertained the most exalted conceptions of God; and his bosom 
glowed in consequence with fervent, manly piety. The system of 
Christianity which he adopted was far from the taint of dark super- 
stition, or wild enthusiasm ; and (rational and consistent in all its parts) 
it defied the attacks of infidelity. As a Dissenting minister, he adopt- 
ed those truly Christian and Protestant principles which oppose all 
human claims and impositions in matters of religion as invasions of 
the inahenable prerogative of Jesus Christ. In the discharge of the 
duties of his ministerial character, he was invariably upright and assi- 
duous. After he had entirely quitted the charge of a particular con- 
gregation, he engaged in the care of providing supplies for vacant 



494 



TAVISTOCK, 



societies in his neig-hhoiirliood, and was eminently serviceable to tliem 
both by his assistance and advice. In short, sobriety in the govern- 
ment of himself ; justice and charity in his behaviour to others ; a 
sincere and warm devotion in his intercourse with (jod ; an insatiable 
thirst for knowledge ; — diligent and cheerful endeavours to improve 
the minds of youth ; a warm and judicious zeal for the interests of 
virtue, truth, and liberty ; and above all, an exemplification in his own 
practice of the duties he recommended, are the great outlines of that 
excellent character which has so lately been removed from our ad- 
miring view. Well may we suppose that, as far as the mind of this 
worthy person was concerned, his end was peaceful and serene. Ac- 
cordingly, he smiled on the near approach of death, no doubt from 
the self-complacency of his own conscience, the enlivening hope of the 
Divine favour, and the delightful prospect of endless felicity. And, 
when this last enemy of nature gave the fatal stroke, it freed a soul 
from its mortal mansion to whose revered memory many have paid 
with me the tributary tear, and which I pray that you and I may meet 
again in a happier state of existence, where we may together for ever 
enjoy the love and favour of our indulgent Father and everlasting 
Friend." * 



Theophilus Edwards was a native of South Wales and 
born in the year 1750. He received his education for the mi- 
nistrj at Carmarthen, under tne Rev. Dr. Jenkins. In 1772, 
he succeeded Mr. Merivale at Tavistock, and remained there 
till the spring of 1794, when he became the pastor of the con- 
gregation at the Mint Meeting, Exeter. Some years before his 
death, he removed to Taunton for the purpose of enjoying the 
society and experiencing the affectionate attention of Dr. and 
Mrs. Davies, — the latter being his daughter. IMr. Edwards was 
higlilj^ respected for his talents and character ; although visited 
with heavy afflictioiis, he invariably manifested the most pro- 
found resignation. He died at Taunton, Oct. 4, 1833, aged 83. 
An ap})ropriate tribute to his memory appeared soon afterwards 
in the Christian Reformer, f 



* Bretland's Sermons, A^ol. ii. p. 35. 



t O. S., Vol. XIX. p. 552. 



PLYMOUTH 



" Plym christeneth that town which bears her noble name, 
Upon the British coast what ship yet ever came, 
That not of Plymouth hears, where those brave navies lie, 
From cannon's thund'ring flote, that all the world defy ; 
Which to invasive spoil when th' English list to draw, 
Have check'd Hiberia's pride, and kept her still in awe, 
Oft furnishing our dames with India's rare devices. 
And lent us gold and pearl, with silk and dainty spices." 

Drayton (end of sixteenth century). 

" It is not long since Plymouth was accounted a mean fishing" town, 
untill the conveniency of the haven, which (without striking sail) ad- 
mitteth into its bosom the tallest ships that be, where they ride safe, 
in either of the two rivers, to take the opportunity of the first wind. 
The commodious situation, and healthful habitation, was vulgarly 
known, and allured many to resort thither ; whereby it is so increased 
with beautiful buildings, that of the two parts (formerly spoken) con- 
joined is made one populous Plymouth; and now so great grown, that 
it may be held comparable to some cities." — Risdon (beginning of 
seventeenth century). 

Plymouth is distant forty-four miles from Exeter, and two hundred 
and eighteen miles from London. In the lapse of two centuries a vast 
change has taken place in the town and vicinity of Plymouth ; but the 
limits prescribed in this work forbid any attempt being made to give 
an adequate idea of its increased extent, opulence, and national im- 
portance. Since the period at which Risdon wrote, it is become one 
of the greatest naval arsenals in the kingdom." — Editors of Risdon's 
History (1811). 

Population in 1811,-20,803; in 1821,-21,591; in 1831,-31,080. 



UNITARIAN CHAPEL. 



Five ministers residing in, and nearly connected 
Vfith, Plymouth, were silenced in the year 1662. 
The seed they had scattered was watched and 
watered, not only by themselves, during the inter- 
vals of their exiles and imprisonments, but also by 
several of their brethren from other parts of the 
county, and abundant proofs were offered that their 
labours were followed by the Divine blessing. The 
ministers mentioned under the head of Plymouth 
in the Nonconformists' Memorial, are Mr. George 
Hughes, Vicar of St. Andrew's ; Mr. Obadiah 
Hughes, his son, then studying at Oxford; Mr. 
Thomas Martyn, Lecturer at St. Andrew's ; Mr. 
Samuel Martyn, his son, an occasional preacher; 
and Mr. John Horseman, ejected at Scilly Island, 
but well known at Plymouth.* 

Of these five ministers, one only was able to dis- 
charge the duties of the ministry at Plymouth for 
any length of time. This was Mr. Thomas Martyn, 
and he also was sent from the town soon after his 
ejectment, and frequently interrupted when, at length, 
he found opportunities of preaching. The magis- 



* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i, p. 387. 



PLYMOUTH. 



497 



trates of the neighbourhood, dreading the influence 
of the ejected pastors where they were generally 
beloved, sent him with Mr, Hughes, Sen., who may 
be considered the founder of the present society, to 
the island of St. Nicholas under a guard of two files 
of musqueteers. There they remained nine months; 
they were liberated on condition that Mr. Hughes 
should give security of <^2000., and Mr. Martyn of 
c£1000., not to live within twenty miles of Plymouth 
without leave of the Earl of Bath or his deputy. 
Mr. Hughes then retired to Kingsbridge, but the 
hardships of his banishment and his separation 
from his flock impaired his health ; and at the end 
of four years, chiefly spent in devotional exercises 
and serious discourse, he died. His friend and fel- 
low-sufferer survived him many years, and obtained 
permission to appear once more among his people ; 
but during his absence his trials were of the 
severest kind ; at St. Nicholas he was deprived of 
the society of his wife and children; a dangerous 
sickness prevailed among the soldiers, and he en- 
treated in vain to be removed ; and, subsequently, 
while he was bound not to live within twenty miles 
of Plymouth, though often wanted to advise, relieve, 
and comfort his family in sickness and death, he 
dared not go near them. 

The evidence relating to the early history of the 
Unitarian society is somewhat contradictory. It 
appears, at first sight, to favour the opinion that 
Mr. Nicholas Sherwill, another ejected minister, 
was the founder of their church. Their register of 

2 K 



498 



PLYMOUTH. 



baptisms was commenced by Mr. Sherwill only 
three months after the memorable Bartholomew 
Day, and continued by him till March 23, 1686. 
Then follows a blank of a page and a half; and 
the register was afterwards brought down, appa- 
rently in the same writing, and without any other 
minister's name, to August 20, 1697. However, 
the statements of several writers, especially Mr. 
Wilson, lead to the conclusion that Sherwill was 
the more immediate founder of the church since 
called Independent, and Hughes of the present Uni- 
tarian society. The possession of Sherwill's register 
by the latter may be accounted for by the fact that, 
at the close of the seventeenth century, there was in 
many towns a community both of Dissenting minis- 
ters and Dissenting records. I have inserted a few 
names on my list, particularly Nathaniel Jacob, 
because, though chiefly connected with the other 
congregation, such ministers preached occasionally 
to both, till the settlement of Mr. Harding. That 
this gentleman presided over the society in question, 
is evident from the inscription on its communion 
cups : 

"Bought by and for the use of that Church in Plymouth 
OF which Nathaniel Harding is Pastor, 1/05." 

The records in possession of the Unitarian minis- 
ter afford much information. Mr. Sherwill's regis- 
ter embraces, with one short omission, the generally 
obscure period from 1662 to 1697. About half of 
these baptisms are expressly said to have been ''in 



PLYMOUTH. 



499 



private," but a great number of them are recorded 
as having been performed at the Old Marshall's," 
a locality now unknown. In the same book is a 
list of baptisms "by Mr. Thomas Martyn/' begin- 
June 12, 1672, (perhaps earlier, as a leaf seems to 
have been torn out,) continued by him to August 
6, 1673, and brought down, apparently by another 
minister, to February 3, 1674-5. It further appears 
from the following memorandum, after one of Mr. 
Martyn's entries, that there were two houses in 
which the Plymouth pastors met their flocks ; " All 
those before mentioned weare baptised at Greene 
house near Charles Church, in Greene Streett.'* 
The circumstance that several ministers, preaching 
or discharging pastoral duties in different places, 
recorded their proceedings in the same book, indi- 
cates that they, as well as the people entrusted to 
their care, were ''one,'' — that they realized the 
happy union which the Saviour so earnestly prayed 
might exist among his followers, and which their 
sufferings for conscience' sake especially led them 
to promote. The attachment to Mr. Sherwill and 
the conviction of the permanent validity of his epis- 
copal ordination were so strong, that several persons 
were married by him, though he was avowedly a 
Nonconformist. In the church book are the fol- 
lowing entries : 

Marrjed by mee Nicliolas Sherwill. 

1662. Mr. Walter Trowt and Mrs. Katlierine Crampron 
Sept. 17. at Stoneliouse. 

2 K 2 



500 



PLYMOUTH. 



.1663. 

July 15. Matthew Greet and Ruth Kingston at Brixton. 

1670. Mr. Abraham Sherwill and Mrs. Joanna Fortescue 
May 3. of Sprindleston at Plympton Morris. 

With respect to the meeting-house in which Mr. 
Harding and his successors officiated, there is no 
evidence of the time of its erection; but the accounts 
of the number, respectability, and earnestness of the 
early Nonconformists at Plymouth, lead us to sup- 
pose that they built a place of worship as soon as 
possible. The date of the edifice raised in Batter 
Street for Mr. Enty and his congregation, after- 
wards called Independent, is 1708. In 1715, Mr. 
Harding had seven hundred and sixty hearers, and 
for a long time this church and that assembling in 
Batter Street included almost all the influential 
citizens, merchants, and manufacturers of the town.* 

Mr. Enty was noted for his orthodoxy," which 
he frequently manifested in the Exeter Controversy. 
On the expulsion of Mr. Peirce he was one of those 
chosen to succeed him, and his own place was filled 
by Mr. Baron, his assistant. The prominent part 
taken by Enty at this period, the zeal with which 
he inculcated the Trinity and its kindred doctrines, 
and the great influence he possessed over his hear- 
ers, tend to account for the circumstance that, in 
after years, his congregation remained orthodox, 
while the other gradually adopted Unitarianism. 
Harding as well as Enty took an active part in the 



* Worslcy's Lectures on Nonconformity, 2n(l cd., p. 34^^. 



PLYMOUTH. 



501 



exclusive proceedings of the Exeter Assembly, but 
the latter was by far the more violent; both re- 
fused, for a long time, to invite Fox, a reputed here- 
tic, to their pulpits, but at length Harding asked 
him indirectly. The father of Fox was a member 
of Harding's church, and had imbibed a large share 
of that zeal for Dissent and reverence for Dissent- 
ing Ministers which were then so common * It 
was the great object of his ambition to see his son 
a member of the Exeter Assembly, or to hear him 
haranguing some large congregation in the West. 
He sent him first to Tavistock School, then to an 
old Mr. Bedford at Plymouth, next to Mr. Hallet's 
Academy at Exeter, and, lastly, with the hope of 

* Several instances are mentioned by Mr. Fox. In reference to his 
going to Mr. Hallet's, he says, " I was about fifteen years of age. Mr. 
Harding and son went with us, which my father took to be so great an 
honour, that he defrayed all their expenses upon the road." Mr. Hallet 
encouraged this kind of feeling. " He had high notions of the ministerial 
power, and thought that it was derived from the Apostles, who had their 
commission from Christ ; so that his opinion was, that Christ had granted 
a charter (that was his word) by virtue of which all ministers had power 
to rule and act in the church, as such, at all times and upon all occasions." 
And in perfect accordance with these notions was the reception of Dr. 
Calarny in 1713. "During his stay in the West he was to come to Ply- 
mouth. As I was designed for London, my father thought it could not be 
amiss to shew him some respect, so he sent him an invitation by Mr. Enty 
to lodge with him. I went as far as Newton to meet him, where he was 
treated nobly and far beyond what the Doctor expected from a country 
brother. He moved by slow degrees to Torbay, Dartmouth, Shilston, and 
thence to Plymouth, where he took up his lodgings at the great inn for all 
Dissenting ministers, which was at Mrs. Pinson's." — Mon. Rejjos., Vol. 
xvi. p. 134. 

In the course of this journey. Dr. Calamy preached at Salisbury, Dor- 
chester, Exeter, Plymouth, Liskeard, Tiverton, Taunton, and Bath. " I 
never went a journey," he says, "in which I worked harder or fared better 
than in this." — Calamy's Historical Account of his oivn Life, Rutt's Ed., 
Vol. ii. p. 266. 



502 



PLYMOUTH. 



making him thoroughly orthodox, to London. But 
Ahe good man's hopes were destroyed by the circum- 
stance that his son, though shrewd, intelligent, well 
acquainted with the world, and by no means indif- 
ferent to the approbation of his father and the re- 
ligious public, yet persisted in thinking and acting 
for himself. While at Mr. Hallet's, he "and five 
or six others fell into the Unitarian scheme about 
the Trinity," which being spread abroad, (and it 
deserves to be noticed here as the origin of the cele- 
brated controversy in the West,) he was prevented 
for some time from obtaining a licence to preach. 
Meanwhile, his father, distressed at the prospect of the 
failure of his scheme, employed various means to re- 
move the young man's difiiculties^ — his dread of an 
examination by the Assembly, occasioned by the spi- 
ritual tyranny of that body — and his objection to 
sign the Thirty-nine Articles, at that time, in many 
cases, an indispensable ceremony. At length, with- 
out sacrificing his principles, he received a certificate 
to signify that he was a licensed candidate by order 
of the Assembly, upon which the old gentleman was 
gratified by hearing him preach several times at 
Plymouth ; but so sickened was the son by the pre- 
vailing spirit of the age, that he soon after quitted 
the ministry, and lived upon his private resources.* 

* " In the very next Assembly after this (he says, in reference to the 
short-lived gratification he was able to afford his father), Mr. Peirce's 
affair came to a crisis. The orthodox made a public declaration of their 
faith in the Trinity, agreeably to the Articles and Creeds of the Church 
of England and to the Assembly's Catechism ; and every body believed them. 
Mr. Peircc and his friends hastily set their names to a paper, in which 



PLYMOUTH. 



503 



For some years there was but little improvement 
in the spirit of the Plymouth Nonconformists. 
Though Harding was less violent than Enty, there 
was no difference in the sentiments of the two 
congregations during the lives of those ministers. 
Harding had at different times three assistants ;■ — 
two were Henry Brett and Joseph Cock,* whose 
peculiar opinions are unknown; the other, Henry 
Moore, originally an Arian, but towards the close 
of his life an Unitarian. Moore removed from 
Southmolton in 1731, to assist Harding, at whose 
death, in 1744, he became pastor of the congre- 
gation. His appointment was not without opposi- 
tion, chiefly caused by one leading member of the 
congregation who was a great favourer of Mr. 
Whitfield ; but the discontented party, finding them- 
selves in the minority, withdrew, and joined the 
church in Batter Street. Mr. Moore "happening 
to be on the unpopular side of the question, there 
were those who (even after the secession) did not 
fail to give him great uneasiness, especially by 
attempting to prejudice his people against him, 

they declared they were no Arians, and that they believed the Scriptures, 
for which almost every body laughed at them, and said that they in a 
manner confessed the Assembly's charge, and assured the world of it under 
their own hands. I, unluckily for my private interest, happened to be one 
of the brave fellows that signed it, the consequence of which was, that 
there was scarce any for me to preach to besides the poor remains of a few 
broken congregations, who had good nature and charity enough to stand 
by their ministers, whose reputation, interest, and usefulness were abso- 
lutely ruined by the rage, aspersions, and violence of the other party. And 
thus ended my short warfare among the paltry, spiritual wickednesses 
with whom it was my ill luck to be concerned." 

* Mr. Wilson's MSS. 



504 PLYMOUTH. 

i^lwhich they were but too successful."* By 
these means his flock was reduced^ before he 
died, to a very small number ; but soon afterwards 
a division took place at Batter Street, because 
the majority would not consent to appoint Mr. 
Hanmer, who had been the assistant of their 
former minister, to fill the ofhce of pastor ; and the 
liberal party was increased by the addition of 
Hanmer and his friends. This circumstance occur- 
red in 1762, the first year of the ministry of Mr. 
Reynell. Hanmer preached for him occasionally, 
and baptized many children; but there is no evi- 
dence of his having received a salary as stated min^ 
ister. Before this division, the two congregations 
which had long been known by the common appel- 
lation — Presbyterian — were on friendly terms, and 
belonged to the same Assembly at Exeter. 

The successors of Mr. Beynell were Mr. Watson, 
Mr, Porter, Mr. Kentish, Dr. Jones, Mr. Ting- 
combe, Mr. Jones, Mr. Worsley, and Mr. Odgers, — 
all decided Unitarians. During the ministry of 
these gentlemen, the society, though not numerous, 
has included many intelligent and truly respectable 
inhabitants of the town. With two exceptions, (Dr. 
Jones and Mr. Jones, of whom memoirs will be 
given in the usual place,) the ministers just mention- 
ed are still living. Mr, Watson removed to Chiches- 
ter in 1788, officiated there till 1803, and has since 
resided at Bath. Mr. Porter continued at Plymouth 
till 1794, afterwards preached for some time in the 

* English Prcsbj^tcrian, p. 180. 



PLYMOUTH, 



505 



neighbouring chapel at Plymouth Dock, now De- 
vonport, and subsequently went to America. He 
engaged in a controversy with Dr. Hawker, which 
came before the public ; and he compiled the 
Liturgy which was introduced during his ministry 
and is still used. Mr. Kentish quitted Plymouth 
for Birmingham in 1795, where, to the present 
time, he has filled the office of one of the pastors of 
the large society at the New Meeting.* Dr. Jones 
was Mr. Kentish's successor, and remained here till 
1798, when he was followed by Mr. Tingcombe, 
who, at the end of eight years, removed to Bridg- 
water, and afterwards from thence to Frenchay. 
The congregation were then supplied for a few 
months by Mr. John Eudd. In 1807, Mr. Jones 
came, and found the chapel thinly attended; but 
his exertions were followed by a considerable im- 
provement. On the death of this gentleman, Mr. 
Worsley removed to Plymouth ; and, after labouring 
here eighteen years, went to Paris with the hope of 
forming a Unitarian society there ; not succeeding 
to the necessary extent, he soon returned to England 
and accepted an invitation from his former flock at 
Lincoln. 

A new era in the history of the congregation now 
commenced. The old chapel, being ruinous and 
inconvenient, was taken down, and a new one 

* Of Mr. Kentish's unwearied labours in one of his fields of Christian 
usefulness, my readers may form some idea from a list of his writings, 
twenty-seven in niimber, subjoined to a short memoir in an interesting 
" Sketch of the History of Presbyterian Nonconformity in Birminyham, by 
the Rev, John Reynell Wreford," 



506 



.PLYMOUTH. 



erected on the same site. This is a substantial 
edifice, with a plain exterior, but neatly fitted up 
and capable of accommodating five hundred per- 
sons. Soon after it was finished, the congregation 
unanimously elected as their pastor, Mr. W. Odgers, 
then pursuing his studies at the London University, 
under the direction of his Theological Tutor, the 
Eev. B. Mardon. The new chapel was opened on 
Sunday, May 13th, 1832. In the morning, Mr. 
Evans, of Tavistock, read the liturgy and delivered 
an address, and Mr. Acton, of Exeter, preached ; in 
the evening Mr. Odgers conducted the whole ser- 
vice. The congregation assembling under these 
favourable auspices were also gratified by the 
presence of the Unitarian society at Devonport, 
whose chapel was purposely closed on that day. 
Most cheering has been the subsequent progress of 
the Plymouth Unitarians. Their number has been 
greatly multiplied, and all their recent proceedings 
prove that they are influenced by a spirit which will 
not speedily decay, — a spirit which sustains itself, 
and acquires increasing strength, by promoting the 
spread of truth, and piety, and benevolence — a spirit 
of power, of love, and of a sound mind. 

The following institutions are supported by the 
society : 

Fellowship Fund. Commenced in 1817, and very 
well supported. Objects, " to assist in building places of wor- 
ship, defraying the expenses of travelling ministers, promoting 
plans of education for ministers, and other exertions for dif- 
fusing the truths of the Gospel." 



PLYMOUTH. 



507 



Chapel Library. Founded in 1825. Contains about 
three hundred volumes, of which there is a printed catalogue. 
The following publications are regularly circulated among the 
subscribers : — The Christian Reformer, Unitarian Chronicle, 
Monthly Repository, Christian Pioneer, Christian Advocate, and 
Christian Teacher. 

Congregational Tract Society. Formed in February, 
1833, for the purpose of promoting habits of reading and think- 
ing in reference more particularly to the doctrines of Christi- 
anity. Two ladies attend regularly in the School Room after 
each of the Sunday services, to deliver tracts to any of the con- 
gregation who are disposed to read them, — a part of the plan 
which has proved very useful. They have also another Tract 
Society, the members of wliich engage to take tracts to persons 
living in their respective districts who may be willing to read 
them, though not belonging to the congregation. 

Sunday-School. Established in March, 1833. Confined 
hitherto to girls. Number at first limited to twenty, but after- 
wards extended to forty. Connected with this institution are a 
School Library and a Writing School. Both are found to be 
valuable auxiliaries. The Writing School is conducted every 
Saturday afternoon by two of the Sunday teachers, who also, at 
the same time, instruct the children in the rudiments of arith- 
metic. This part of the plan is found to induce the scholars to 
seek improvement at home. 

Sunday-School Savings' Fund. Established in Janu- 
ary, 1834, to encourage habits of economy and forethought 
among the children, and thus prepare them for the prudent per- 
formance of the duties' of life. Each child is encouraged to 
bring a sum not exceding two-pence weekly, which, having ac- 
cumulated, is returned in some form to the parents or children 
at the end of the year, with a premium of two-pence on every 
shilling. In the first year the deposits amounted to more than 
£'8. The money to be laid out for the benefit of the children, 
or no premium to be given. 



508 



PLYMOUTH. 



George Hughes, B.D.. 1662 — 

Thomas Martyn 1662 — 1673. 

Samuel Martyn 

Nathaniel Jacob 1673 — 1690. 

Nathaniel Harding 1690 — 1744. 

Henry Brett 1707 — 1723. 

Joseph Cock 1721—1731. 

Henry Moore 1731--1762. 

John Reynell 1762 — 1784. 

Thomas Watson 1785—1788. 

Thomas Porter 1 789—] 794. 

John Kentish 1794 — 1795. 

John Jones, LL. D 1795 — 1798. 

John Tingcombe 1798—1806. 

John Jones 1807—1812. 

Israel WoRSLEY 1813—1831. 

2 ^William Odgers 1832. 



George Hughes, B. D. — Bom at Southwark. — Educated at 
Oxford. — Ordained in 1628. — Preached first in and about Ox- 
ford. — iVfterwards Lecturer of Allhallows, Bread Street, London. 
— Silenced hy Archbishop Laud, at an early period, for Non- 
conformity to some ceremonies. — Presented bj the Earl of 
Bedford, to the living of Tavistock, where he did much good. — 
Obliged by the Civil War to remove to Coventry and live with 
his wife's relations. — Soon sent for by " the government of Ply- 
mouth," and presented to St. Andrews in that town, 1644. — 
Found the Liturgy had been omitted by his predecessor, and 
willingly followed his example. — Very generous to the Puritan 
ministers who took refuge in Plymouth, and much respected by 



PJ.YMOUTH. 



509 



all parties for his learning, piety, and general usefulness. — 
Ejected in 1662. — Soon afterwards sent to St. Nicholas Island 
on account of his Nonconformity, and subsequently removed to 
Kingsbridge, where, in 1667, he proved by his death as he had 
done by his life, that he was a Christian indeed. — Continued 
preaching privately to the last, and confessed that he " was not 
ashamed to live nor afraid to die."* 



Nathaniel Jacob was the son of a major in the Parliament 
army. He designed his son for the ministry from the cradle, if 
it should please God to qualify him for it. At fifteen years of 
age, the youth, being well furnished with grammar-learning, 
went to Oxford, and at twenty-three he was ordained by the 
classical Presbytery of Sarum. He was ejected from Ugborough, 
where his learning, exemplary piety, and obliging behaviour, had 
much endeared him to the people, particularly to several gentle- 
men of good fortune and character. After his ejectment, he 
rode to Plymouth once a fortnight to preach to Mr. Martyn's 
people, (a branch of the Nonconformist church,) and at his 
death became their pastor. About the year 1 684, he was con- 
victed under the act against conventicles, and committed to 
Exeter gaol for six months. Still he lived on good terms with 
several worthy clergymen in the neighbourhood, and when the 
Five-mile Act drove him from Plymouth, Mr. Nosworthy, of 
Dipford, gave him shelter in his parish. Afterwards, liberty 
being granted, he returned to the public exercise of his ministry 
to a numerous congregation. His labours were crowned with 
great success. Canon Gilbert, vicar of St. Andrews, preached 
his funeral sermon and gave him a great character for piety and 
learning, f 

* Noncon. Mem., p. 387. See a Latin inscription composed by the son-ii^ 
in-law of Mr. Hughes — Mr. John Howe. i 
+ Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 422. 



510 



PLYMOUTH. 



Nathaniel Harding. — The fullest account of Mr. Harding's 
life is found among the biographical sketches bj Mr. Fox, of 
Pljmoutli. Part of tbat account I sliall introduce here ; ven- 
turing to omit a few passages not necessary to my purpose. 
Of Mr. Fox's tendency to be severe I have already reminded 
my readers. 

" Mr. Harding was born in Ireland. His father was a Dissenting 
minister in that kingdom, and called Nicodemus. From the quaintnessof 
the name and the notions and disposition which Ms son brought to 
England, I apprehend he was of the Puritan kmd. It was by accident 
(as I have heard) that young Harding came to Plymouth. He went 
on board a ship in Ireland to see some friends who had embarked for 
England. While he was there, the wind sprung up fresh and fair, and 
he was persuaded by his friends to take the tour with them. On 
arriving at Pljmiouth, he found that a large congregation of Dissent- 
ers had, some time before, lost their minister. He was desired to 
preach to them, which he did to such good purpose that the people 
immediately feU in love mth him and elected him their pastor. In 
Ireland, he had been under the tuition of one Dr. Carr, who had the 
character of a proud, sour man, and of a very good Grecian. Where 
he studied I can't say ; 'tis certain, he settled Yerj yoimg at Plymouth, 
and brought all his notions in divinity \vith him, which he notably re- 
tained and vindicated to the last. I sat myself under his ministn^, 
many years, and the general run of his preaching was upon the darhng 
mysteries of Christianity, and upon such things as Election, Adoption, 
Sanctification, &c. ; and I never understood that he entered at any 
time on any other method of preaching. His behaviour in the pulpit 
was very suitable to his way of thinking ; for he made a most mon- 
strous disagreeable noise, especially when he grew angry, as he often 
did, if he happened to be confuting any opinions he did not like. I 
can remember myself, that he was once yery near throwng a quarto 
Bible upon the head of the minister who sat in the desk under him. 
At another time, he with much difficulty recovered his wg, which he 
had ahnost jerked from his head by the riolent agitation of his body 
at an argument he was offering against Dr. Clarke. He was much 
more disagreeable in prayer. Not tliat he was at a loss, or guilty of 



PLYMOUTH. 



511 



of tautology, for he composed his prayers and learnt them by heart 
as he did his sermons. But then he had so strange an utterance, 
especially in the beginning of his prayer, that persons not used to him 
could seldom understand him. He had always the art of keeping 
great authority over liis hearers ; the external sanctity which he car- 
ried about with him, gained him universal respect. His conversation 
generally turned on spiritual things, or on some disputed point in 
divinity, and if any indifferent things were talked of, he seemed always 
uneasy, was constantly sighing, and lifting up his hands and eyes to 
heaven . But all his knowledge and piety never got the better of his 
natural temper ; for he was naturally proud, and impatient of contra- 
diction, and governed with great haughtiness and tyranny in his family. 
The menaces he gave his only son on his falling into the Unitarian 
scheme, and his driving him out of the kingdom, will be always a 
standing proof of his furious bigotry, and the barbarity of his temper. 
Yet after all these imperfections, which perhaps he never knew or 
considered as such, it must be allowed that he was a man of singular 
piety towards God. His heart was certainly in his work, and I believe 
he thought it was his duty to live in that retired and abstracted man- 
ner which he always delighted in. Upon the whole, considering his 
education, principles, and professions, he discharged his duty faithfully, 
gave an excellent example to his brethren of the separation, and with 
all his infirmities and mistakes, lived and died an honest man." * 

Henry Moore, of Liskeard. — I omit a separate memoir of 
Mr. Moore, of Plymouth, because his life was not marked by 
circumstances of peculiar interest. But the reader will not ob- 
ject to the introduction of a few particulars of the life of his 
son,~derived chiefly from Dr. Aikin's preface to the posthu- 
mous volume of Mr. Moore's Lyrical and Miscellaneous Poems. 

Henry Moore was born, in 1732, at Plymouth. His 
father, a man of extensive learning and merits, was a Dissenting 
minister. His mother was the daughter of William Bellew, 
Esq., of Stockleigh Court in the same county. He received 
his grammar education under Mr. Bedford, afterwards vicar of 
Charles parish, in Plymouth. In 1749, he was entered at Dr. 

* Men. Rep., Vol. xvi. p. 257. 



512 



PLYMOUTH. 



Doddridge's Academy, at Northampton, of which he was a mem- 
ber at the time of his tutor's decease. On this occasion, Mr. 
Moore paid a tribute of respect and veneration in a poem to the 
memory of Dr. Doddridge, which was afterwards published with 
many unwarrantable alterations. The poem was dedicated to 
Mrs. Doddridge, and was justly admired as a tribute of elegant 
fancy and warm affection. He finished his academical course 
under Dr. Ashworth ; and in 1755 or 1756, was elected minister 
to a congregation at Dulverton. In 1757, he removed to Mod- 
bury, where he continued till his final removal to Liskeard, 
which took place in 1788. During these long periods, he was 
almost lost from the notice of the world ; recollected, perhaps, 
by some of his fellow-students as a youth of promise ; known by 
a few brother-ministers as a man of learning and critical talents ; 
but scarcely recognised for that cultivated genius which fitted 
him for shining in the highest ranks of literature. 

He so far overcame his diffidence, as to contribute largely 
to the two volumes of commentaries and essays, published by 
the Society for promoting the knowledge of the Scriptures.* 
These pieces obtained for the author the character of a very 
learned, ingenious, and useful critic, from such judges as Dr. 
Geddes, and Michael Dodson, Esq. Mr. Moore was the author 
of an anonymous letter, in which the doctrines of Mr. Madan's 
Thelypthora are attacked with much humour and vivacity. At 
the solicitation of his nephew, who was a very intelligent 
surgeon at Plymouth, he printed, in ] 795, a short poem entitled 
Private Life, a Moral Rhapsody. This, though a performance 
of much poetical and sentimental beauty, yet appearing from a 
country press, with no advantages of publication, attracted little 
notice. During the last summer of his life, Mr. Moore put into 
the hands of his nephew, a volume of MS. poems which, with 
singular modesty, he requested him to shew to some person who 
could judge of their fitness for the public eye. 

* A list of Mr. Moore's contributions may be found in Dr. Aikin's 
preface. 



PLYMOUTH. 



513 



I was applied to on the occasion," (says Dr Aikin in concluding- 
the preface,) " and I trust the readers of these pieces will be convinced 
that I could not hesitate in giving- a decided opinion in their favour. 
In reality, I scarcely ever experienced a greater and more agreeable 
surprise, than on the discovery of so rich a mine of poetry, where I 
had not the least intimation of its existence. That the author should 
have passed seventy years of life almost totally unkno^vn, was a cir- 
cumstance that excited the interest of all to whom the poems were 
communicated ; and we were impatient that, however late, he should 
enjoy those rewards of merit which had so long been withheld. In the 
mean time, he was attacked with a severe stroke of the palsy, which, 
Avhile it left his intellects free, incapacitated him for every exertion. 
There was now no time to be lost. My offer of taking upon myself 
the whole care of the editorship was thankfuUy accepted ; and a sub- 
scription was set on foot, which met with the warm support of many 
who were desirous that all possible comfort should be supplied to 
cheer the helpless decline of such a man. But the progress of debi- 
lity anticipated these well intended efforts. He sunk tranquilly 
under his disease on Nov. 2, 1802 ; having, however, lived to enjoy 
some satisfaction from the knowledge that there were persons whom 
he had never seen, who could regard him with cordial esteem and 
friendship. As he lived in celibacy, and had no dependent relatives, 
no other object remained for a subscription than that of bringing for- 
ward his posthumous work in an advantageous manner secure both - 
from loss and neglect." mas ctM 1'> 

Those who are so fortunate as to possess this volume, will 
cordially assent to the estimate, formed by the accomplished edi- 
tor, of the literary rank of Mr. Moore. Many who are only 
acquainted with the hymns by the subject of this memoir in 
various Unitarian selections, will gratefully acknowledge bis 
claims to their admiration. If he had only written, those begin- 
ning with the lines, " My God thy boundless love I praise," , 
"Soft are the fruitful showers that bring," " Supreme and uni- • 
versal light," he would have furnished food for the piety of 
thousands. Of liis personal qualities — his mild and gentle 
manners, his humilit;/, conteiitment, and thankfulness, there is 
a beautiful description in the memoir by Dr. Aikin, and the fol- 

2 L 



514 



PLYMOUTH. 



lowing extracts from the volume of poems derive their greatest 
charm from the circumstance, that the sentiments they ex- 
press are in perfect unison with those by which the heart and 
life of the author were habitually influenced. 

" Rejoicing in the good his hands bestow, 
Th' Almighty Father looks well pleas'd below. 
But chief his fav'rite work to see. 
The pious, grateful, social soul. 
Where, tun'd to nature's harmony. 
The softest, sweetest passions roll ; 
That throbs in sympathy with woe. 
That flames with friendship's holy glow. 
That swells with wishes unconfin'd 
To scatter blessings o'er mankind. 
And, in divine resembling lines imprest. 
Loves his own image in the gen'rous breast." — ^p. 5. 

" But mark, where poor, unnotic'd or unknown. 
Neglected virtue smiles at fortune's frown ; 
Or blest by fortune in a private state. 
By worth ennobled and by goodness great ; 
Bright on whose gen'rous breast those splendours glow. 
Of sacred honour, kings could ne'er bestow ; 
The friend of man ! who can in life confess 
No joy worth living, but the joy to bless." — ^p. 153. 

" O Resignation ! Faith's soft soothing child ; 
Come with thy words — thy looks — divinely mild : 
Woe's wild emotions lull to gentle rest ; 
Pour holy balm into the bleeding breast ; 
Be ev'ry passion, ev'ry murmur, still. 
And bend the struggling soul to Heav'n's high ^vill." — ^p. 106. 

Since compiling the above imperfect notice, I have been fa- 
voured with a selection of Mr. Moore's hymns in his own hand- 
writing and entrusted by him to the respected friend from whom 
I received it. The following effusion has not, I believe, been 
published : 



PLYMOUTH. 



515 



" As on the swiftly-gliding stream 
A thousand sunbeams play, 
Successive give a transient gleam. 
And quickly glance away ; 

So on our eyes with rapid glare 
A thousand pleasures float ; 

Ere we have time to say " they are/' — 
They vanish, and " are not." 

Unnumbered joys, illusive, vain. 

Our eager wishes cheat ; 
Yet are we still allur'd again. 

Nor will suspect deceit. 

From scheme to scheme we wildly fly. 

Nor let our passions rest : 
Then grieve, and weep, and wonder why 

We cannot yet be blest. 

The world let pride and folly share. 

It never was design'd 
To be the pleasure, or the care. 

Of an immortal mind. 

To joys more lasting and sublime 
The Christian's faith aspires ; 

No bliss within the bounds of time 
Can fill his vast desires. 

To thee, my God ! my wishes tend ; 

In thee completely blest ; 
My present hope ! my final end ! 

And my eternal rest ! " 



The Rev. John Reynell was descended from a very an- 
cient and distinguished family which had been seated in Devon- 
shire for about four centuries, at Ogwell-house, near Newton - 
Bushel, the present representative of which is Major General 
Sir Thomas Reynell, Baronet. Mr. Reynell was born at 
Newton- Abbot, in the county of Devon, October 30th, 1736. 

2 L 2 



516 



PLYMOUTH. 



In the year 1755, he was placed in the Academical Institution 
at Daventry, then under the superintendence of Dr. Ashworth. 
In this Institution, when under the charge of Dr. Doddridge at 
Northampton, his uncle and early instructor, the Rev. John 
Reynell, of Totness, had received his education ; and at Daven- 
try, at a subsequent period, under Mr. Belsham, his son the 
Rev. Thomas Reynell, of Crediton, was educated. — That branch 
of the family from which the subject of this memoir more im- 
mediately descended, had joined the Nonconformists soon after 
the passing of the Act of Uniformity. Mr. Reynell left Daven- 
try in the year 1760, and in 1762, he settled as pastor of the 
congregation at Plymouth. In this office he continued until 
1784, when, in consequence of his coming into the possession 
of an estate at Thorverton, near Exeter, he removed to that 
delightful village, where he officiated to a small Presbyterian 
congregation, and continued to reside until his death, which took 
place in September, 1800. Soon after his settlement at Ply- 
mouth, he married Mary, the only surviving child of Edward 
Richards, Esq., of Upex, near Exeter, by whom he left seven 
sons and two daughters. Mrs. Reynell died in 1789. 

Though the name of this admirable man is not extensively 
known, few persons have passed through life more honoured 
and beloved than he did. While at Plymouth and engaged in 
the more active duties of his profession, he secured the venera- 
tion and regard of his flock, by the courteousness of his deport- 
ment, the warmth of his benevolence, and the amiability of his 
temper, as well as by the piety, earnestness, and sound practical 
sense by which his preaching was distinguished. He was un- 
friendly to controversy, and seldom dwelt upon speculative 
points of theology. His heart overflowed with kindness to the 
whole race of man, and he was ardently desirous of promoting 
a friendly disposition among Christians of all denominations. 

At Thorverton, Mr. Reynell occupied precisely the situation 
which the Author of his nature seemed to have fitted him to im- 
prove and adorn. In that retired and rural village, he lived 
happy in himself and dispensing happiness to all around him. 



PLYMOUTH. 



517 



Encircled by a numerous and affectionate family, — placed in 
easy and even affluent circumstances, — and anxious to contri- 
bute to the comfort of every one who came within the sphere of 
his influence, he had it in his heart — and in his power also — to 
be a blessing to the neighbourhood to which Providence had 
conducted him — and a blessing to the neighbourhood in truth 
he was. By his kind offices to the poor, by his affectionate at- 
tentions to their temporal as well as to their spiritual necessities, 
he was at once a complete model of a village pastor, the friend, 
the comforter, the guide of all. His house was the scene of 
hospitality and of domestic bliss. His brethren in the ministry 
and all who enjoyed his friendship or acquaintance were ever 
received by him with a cordial and courteous welcome, and 
were made happy in the feeling that they shared the regard of 
one of the excellent of the earth. He was fond of rural pursuits 
and recreations, as well as of his books — of society, as well as of 
his own fire-side. It was there, in the bosom of his happy fa- 
mily, that he sought and found his purest earthly felicity. By 
them, he was beloved and revered in no ordinary degree while 
he lived ; and after his death, by none of them could his name 
be ever pronounced without emotion. The dignified and manly 
beauty of his person — the urbanity of his manners — the simpli- 
city, uprightness, and benevolence of his character, are still re- 
membered with affectionate and admiring regret by many to 
whom his memory will be always precious — nor can the influ- 
ence of such a character ever altogether cease. 

Thus in the possession of every source of earthly enjoyment 
and going about continually doing good, the life of this excel- 
lent man passed happily and usefully away ; and when he died, 
the tears of the whole village accompanied him to the grave, 
where he was again united to the gentle partner of his days^ — 
and where " side by side they sleep beneath the village tower." * 



* Communicated by the Rev. J. R. Wreford, of Birmingham. 



518 



PLYMOUTH. 



Dr. John Jones. — This accomplished scholar and volumin- 
ous writer, was bom at Landingate, in the countj of Carmar- 
then. His father was a respectable farmer ; and the son had 
been destined for agricultural pursuits, till it was discovered that 
he had neither taste nor inclination for such occupations. From 
his earliest childhood he had evinced an unusual predilection for 
books. It was his frequent practice, immediately after break- 
fast, to disappear from the family circle, and retire to the banks 
of a secluded rivulet, about a mile from the house, and there 
pursue his studies till hunger compelled him to return. His 
memory was at this time remarkable for its strength and tena- 
city. 

His father, finding that it would be vain to attempt to con- 
sign him to the drudgery of a farm, resolved to educate him for 
the Christian ministry. With this view he procured for him 
the best instruction in the elements of the Latin and Greek 
languages, which he could obtain in the country schools of the 
neighbourhood. He made the most of these slender advantages, 
and gradually imbibed an ardent desire to become a proficient 
;in classical learning. About the age of fourteen or fifteen, he 
was sent to the College Grammar School at Brecon, one of the 
first classical seminaries in the Principality, always under the 
superintendence of a clergyman of the Established Church. 
Here he remained three years, when the death of his father, in 
1783, obliged him to return home. 

About this period, his neighbour and relation, Mr. David 
Jones, afterwards the colleague of Dr. Priestley, and known, in 
the controversy with Dr. Horsley, as the " Welsh Freeholder,*' 
was a stndent at the New College, Hackney. Through his re- 
commendation, the managers of that institution admitted him a 
student on the foundation. Here he soon acquired the friend- 
sliip and patronage of the late Dr. Abraham Rees, who had 
held the office of Resident Tutor. He remained at Hackney six 
years, enjoying, among other advantages, the enviable privilege 



PLYMOUTH. 



519 



of the classical instruction of the late Gilbert Wakefield, with 
whom he was a favourite pupil. 

In the year 1792, the death of the learned and excellent 
Mr. Thomas Llojd having created a vacancy in the office of 
Classical and Mathematical Tutor in the Welsh Academy, then 
stationed at Swansea, Mr. Jones was appointed by the Presby- 
terian Board to be his successor. After he had held this office 
about three years, some unhappy differences arose between him 
and his colleague, the Rev. W. Howell, in which the students 
rashly embarked as partizans. The Board finding that there 
remained no prospect of an amicable adjustment of the disputes, 
and not wishing to side with either party in a matter which was 
entirely personal, adopted the resolution of dismissing both 
tutors, and removing the institution to Carmarthen. On quit- 
ting Swansea, Mr. Jones settled at Plymouth, as the pastor of 
the Unitarian congregation in that place. He remained here 
two years, when he accepted an invitation to Halifax, in York- 
shire. Here he resided for three years, joining to his ministerial 
labours the instruction of youth, an employment for which he 
was singularly well qualified. From Halifax he removed to 
London, where he continued till the end of his life. Not long 
after his settlement in London, he married the only daughter of 
his fi-iend and former tutor. Dr. Rees. This lady died without 
issue in the year 1815. In 1817 he married Anna, the only 
daughter of the late George Dyer, Esq., of Sawbridge worth, 
Herts, who, with two children, survived him. 

After his removal to the metropolis, Mr. Jones occasionally 
preached for his brethren, but never had the charge of a congre- 
gation. Under some momentary feeling of disgust, never ex- 
plained to his brethren, he destroyed all his manuscript sermons, 
and from this time never could be prevailed upon to appear in 
the pulpit. He still, however, adhered to his profession ; was a 
member of the Presbyterian Body of London Dissenting Min- 
isters, and for some years one of the clerical trustees of the 
estates and endowments of Dr. Daniel Williams. A few years 
before his death, the University of Aberdeen conferred upon 



520 PLYMOUTH, 

him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, and within a year 
or two of his death he was elected a member of the Royal So- 
ciety of Literature. 

Dr. J ones maintained a high reputation as a teacher of the 
classical languages. His instructions were for many years in 
great request among persons of rank and eminence ; and he had 
to reckon in the number of his pupils some individuals of noble 
birth. He superintended, for a considerable time, the education 
of the sons of that distinguished lawyer and philanthropist. Sir 
Samuel Romilly; and to the last he had under his care some 
young persons of opulent families. It must be observed here, 
to the honour of Dr. Jones, that while he was thus courted by 
the rich and the noble, he was ever ready to afford encourage- 
ment and gratuitous personal assistance and instruction to young 
men in humble circumstances, whom he found struggling with 
difficulties in the pursuit of learning. 

He acquired no small degree of celebrity as an author, if not 
by the uniform success, at least by the number, the originality, 
and the ability of his writings. In the year 1800, while he 
resided at Halifax, he published his first work, in two volumes 
8vo., under the title of "A Development of Remarkable 
Events, calculated to restore the Christian Religion to its Ori- 
ginal Purity, and to repel the Objections of Unbelievers." 
These volumes contain a vindication of the authenticity of the 
disputed passage in Josephus, and are remarkable as conveying 
the first intimation of the hypothesis for which Dr. Jones was 
afterwards so greatly distinguished, of Josephus and Philo being 
converts to the Christian faith. In 1801 followed a second part 
of this work, which the author entitled " The Epistle of Paul to 
the Romans analyzed, Irom a Development of those Circum- 
stances in the Romish Church by which it was occasioned." 
His original plan was much more extensive, but here he discon- 
tinued the prosecution of it, meaning, however, to resume the 
subject at a more advanced period of life. In 1808, he pub- 
lished " Illustrations of the Four Gospels, founded on circum- 
stances peculiar to our liOrd and his Evangelists. " This work 



PLYMOUTH. 



521 



is distinguished by a mode of thinking peculiar to the author, 
and evinces an intimate acquaintance with the sacred writings 
and with Christian antiquity. It is, unquestionably, one of his 
ablest theological publications. Many of his "Illustrations" 
are strikingly original; they discover an acute mind, always 
feelingly alive to the unrivalled excellence of our Lord's manner 
of instruction, and to the unstudied but exquisite beauties of his 
historian. Dr. Jones's next work of this class appeared in J 8 12. 
It was entitled " Ecclesiastical Researches, or Philo and Jose- 
phus proved to be Historians and Apologists of Christ, of his 
Followers, and of his Gospel." This hypothesis the author 
also maintained in the Monthly Repository, to which he was a 
frequent contributor. A sequel to his Ecclesiastical Researches 
was published in 1813, in which he proposed to trace the origin 
of the introductory chapters in Matthew and Luke's Gospels 
from Josephus, and to deduce the peculiar articles of the ortho- 
dox faith of the Gnostics, who opposed the Gospel in the days 
of Christ and his apostles. 

Under the name of Essenus, Dr. Jones published, in 1819, 
a New Version of the first three chapters of Genesis. The 
work was occasioned by Mr. Bellamy's translation that had then 
just appeared. In the following year, the appearance of nume- 
rous Deistical works induced Dr. Jones to print, in one volume 
8vo., "A Series of Important Facts, demonstrating the Truth 
of the Christian Religion, drawn from the Writings of its 
Friends and Enemies in the First and Second Centuries." His 
next publication was " A Reply to two Deistical works, entitled 
A New Trial of the Witnesses, &c., and Gamaliel Smith's Not 
Paul but Jesus." In the title of this work he assumed the name 
of Ben David. His last publication of a theological character, 
which appeared in 1825, was entitled "Three Letters addressed 
to the Editor of the Quarterly Review, in which is demonstrated 
the Genuineness of the Three Heavenly Witnesses, 1 John v. 7. 
By Ben David." His aim in this tract is to prove that this 
much-disputed verse, which nearly all the most eminent scholars 
and writers of modern times have pronounced to be a forgery. 



522 



PLYMOUTH. 



was the genuine composition of the author of the epistle ; and 
that, instead of being foisted into the text, as is commonlj 
maintaiued, for the purpose of supporting the doctrine of the 
Trinity, it was actually expunged by the earlier fathers, as fur- 
nishing a strong argument in favour of the proper humanity of 
Christ. This pamphlet exhibits, in the liveliest colours, the 
sanguine temper of the author's mind, and displays great inge- 
nuity as well as enthusiasm in the maintenance of a favourite 
hypothesis. 

f Dr. Jones ranked deservedly high as a scholar and philologist, 
and his writings on the classical languages are numerous. In 
1813, he publishe;3 a short Latin Grammar, which was reprinted 
in 1816. In 1804, he published a Greek Grammar on an im- 
proved plan, which was repeatedly reprinted ; but in the last 
year the author re-modelled and nearly re-wrote it, and pub- 
lished it under the title of " Etymologia GrcEoa, or a Grammar 
of the Greek Language," &c. In 1812, Dr. Jones published 
" A Latin and English Vocabulary, on a simple yet philosophi- 
cal principle, for the use of Schools." This work he afterwards 
greatly improved and re-published, in 1825, under the title of 
^nalogicB LatincB, or a Development of those Analogies by 
which the Parts of Speech in Latin are derived from each 
other," &c. But his great work on language, to which he had 
devoted a very large portion of his active life, and the best en- 
ergies of his mind, was his Greek and English Lexicon, which 
appeared in 1823, in one volume 8vo. Its success equalled his 
most sanguine wishes; a large impression was rapidly sold. 
Though this Lexicon may possibly be liable to some objections, 
the author has executed his task in a manner highly creditable 
to liis industry, his erudition, his taste and critical acumen. He 
has been rewarded by the approving verdict of some of the first 
scholars and critics of the age, and, among others, by the late 
Dr. Parr. These circumstances encouraged Dr. Jones to print 
another work of a similar kind, but designed for a different class 
of persons. This he entitled the " Tyro's Greek and English 
Lexicon," which is a very excellent and useful publication. Not 



PLYMOUTH. 



523 



long after the publication of the first Greek Lexicon, some 
severe animadversions in a critical journal drew from the author 
an indignant and triumphant reply, in a pamphlet which he en- 
titled "An Answer to a Pseudo-Criticism of the Greek-English 
Lexicon, which appeared in the Second Number of the West- 
minster Review" — a criticism which he ascribes to a "Mr. 
John Walker, late Fellow of Dublin College," and characterizes 
as a malignant personal attack. In 1826, the subject of this 
memoir published " An Exposure of the Hamiltonian System of 
Teaching Languages, in a Letter addressed to the author of an 
Article recommending that System, in No. 87 of the Edinburgh 
Review." His last work was entitled "x\n Explanation of the 
Greek Article, in Tliree Parts." This work was printed during 
the author's life-time, but he died before it was published. 

The characteristics of Dr. Jones's mind were an irrepressible 
ardour and enthusiasm in the prosecution of whatever he under- 
took; great confidence in the correctness of his own views, 
arising from a consciousness of superior intellectual powers ; an 
utter disdain of the authority of great names, when he failed to 
be convinced by their arguments; a devoted attachment to 
truth, and a faithful adherence to what he deemed such, united 
with a fearless disregard of personal consequences. By posterity 
he will probably be better known as a scholar and a philologist 
than as a theologian and ecclesiastical historian, though he 
seemed himself confidently to expect that the progress of know- 
ledge would tend to support his speculations, and to demonstrate 
to general conviction the correctness and truth of his theories. 
He has left his literary property in the charge of trustees, providing 
that his classical works should be reprinted under the editorial 
care of his nephew, Mr. James Chervet, of Croydon, who had 
been educated by him, and of whose classical attainments and 
judgment he entertained a high opinion. He was interred in 
the burying-ground of St. George's, Bloomsbury, the parish in 
which he had resided. Over the grave is placed a plain monu- 
mental stone, with the following inscription : 



524 



PLYMOUTH. 



Depositum 
JoHANNis Jones, 
LL. D., 
SociET. Regal, Liter. Soc. 
viri sacris profanisque literis 
Apprime periti. 
Qui die decimo Januarii, 
Anno Domini 
MDCCCXXVIL, 
Obiit.* 

Mr. John Jones was also a native of Wales and tlie son 
of a respectable farmer. He received his grammatical educa- 
tion under the Rev. W. Howell, of Swansea; and his academical 
course occupied three years at Carmarthen and one at York. 
Before he went to Plymouth, he spent a few months as a supply 
at Bridgwater, two years as a private tutor in the family of the 
widow of the Rev. George Morgan, and about one year as pastor 
of a church at Belper, in Derbyshire. He entered on his office 
at Plymouth in 1807. His congregation gradually increased, 
and bright prospects of happiness and usefulness were unfolded 
before his eyes. But God had a different lot in store for him. 
His health, which had probably never been strong, could not 
endure the fatigue of a day-school (which he opened in 1810) 
in addition to his pulpit and pastoral exertions, and towards the 
close of the year 1812 it began to fail rapidly. A few months 
afterwards he removed to Clifton, but all human attempts were 
unavailing; on the thirtieth of May, 1813, he was carried to his 
last earthly home, in the burial-ground belonging to the Lewin's 
Mead Chapel, Bristol, t 

* Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. i. p. 297. Contrary to my first intention, I 
have found myself obliged to abridge this interesting memoir. In the ori- 
ginal, to which is subjoined the initials of Dr. Thomas Rees, the reader 
will find valuable explanations of the particular objects of the numerous 
works of Dr. Jones. 

t From a memoir by Mr. S. Gibbs, Mon. Rej)., O. S,, Vol. viii, p. 551. 



DE VONPORT. 



Devonport, formerly Plymouth-Dock, is pleasantly situated on 
the eastern bank of Hamoaze, about two miles west of Plymouth. It 
owes its origin to the establishment of the Dock-Yard in the reign of 
William III., and its increase in importance since that period has been 
very rapid. In form it is oblong, measuring nearly three thousand 
feet from north to south, and fifteen hundred feet from east to west. 
The streets are wide and well-built, intersecting each other, with some 
exceptions, at right angles. The foot-ways are paved with variegated 
marble raised from quarries in the neighbourhood, and presenting, 
when washed by a shower, a most beautiful appearance. 

The parish church of Stoke being incompetent in point of size to 
accommodate the inhabitants of this densely populated district, nume- 
rous places of worship have been from time to time erected within the 
town of Devonport. St. Aubyn's Chapel, in Chapel Street, and St. 
John's, in Duke Street, the former built in 1771, and the latter in 1799, 
conform to the principles of the Established Church. The chief Dis- 
senting meeting-houses are the Calvinistic Chapels in Princess Street, 
Mount Street, and Ker Street ; the Baptist Chapels in Morice Square, 
and Pembroke Street ; the Methodist Chapels in Morice and Wind- 
mill-hill Streets ; and the Moravian, in James Street. In addition to 
these, the Dock-Yard Chapel is open to the inhabitants. 

"Close to the Town Hall is the Devonport Column, erected by 
public subscription to commemorate the alteration in the name of the 
town. A spiral stair-case within the shaft conducts to the summit, 
from which the spectator enjoys a grand and extensive prospect. The 
hills, vales, fields, woods, and waters, from Hengeston Down in the 
north to the ocean in the south — from the wilds of Dartmoor in the 
east to the billowy eminences of Cornwall in the west — lie before the 
gaze in a beautiful panorama : while the eye looks down on Devon- 
port and its immediate vicinity as on a map." — Carrington. 

Population in 1811,-35,257; in 1821,-39,621; in 1831,-44,454 



UNITAEIAN CHAPEL. 

Although the present chapel is not the first in 
which the Unitarian inhabitants of Devonport as- 
sembled, the history of their proceedings is compa- 
ratively modern. It does not appear that they had 
any place of worship before 1791, when, in conse- 
quence of the exertions of the Rev. T. Porter, of 
Plymouth, a neat chapel was erected in George 
Street.* The expense of the building was defrayed 
by voluntary subscriptions in addition to a loan of 
c^200. advanced by the Rev. Theophilus Lindsey. 
The opening took place April 27, 1791. Dr. Toul- 
min preached to a crowded audience, and his dis- 
course, which is described as excellent and ap- 
propriate, was published. Mr. Kentish, now of 
Birmingham, having just completed his academical ' 
course, was appointed the first minister. 

For a short period the new society was numerous 
and respectable; but the signs of the times were 
against it. In the following July, the Dissenters 
throughout the kingdom were alarmed by the accounts 
of the disgraceful riots at Birmingham. The Unita- 

* Of these exertions honourable mention is made, in a letter from the 
Rev. T. Belsham to the Rev. T. Kenrick. — See Williams's Life of 
B€lsham,p. 427. 



DEVONPORT. 



527 



rians at Plymouth Dock, many of whom were em- 
ployed under Government, partook largely of the ge- 
neral terror. It was reported and currently believed, 
that Commissioner Fanshawe, of the Dock- Yard, 
had intimated that he should consider all persons who 
attended the new chapel as disloyal subjects. This 
intimation produced the desired effect; most of 
those who were connected with Government depart- 
ments withdrew; and professional gentlemen and 
tradesmen quickly followed the example. The zeal 
and talents of Mr. Kentish could produce but little; 
impression amidst a torrent of prejudice and perse--; 
cution; yet notwithstanding his numerous discou- 
ragements, that gentleman continued his labours, 
until 1794, when he became the pastor of the cont^ 
gregation at Plymouth. . ff 

The subsequent ministers of the first chapel were^ 
Mr. Holt, Mr. Rice, Mr. Tingcombe, and Mr.r 
Evans. Mr. Evans was chosen pastor about the 
year 1798, and continued to officiate until 1806, 
when it was deemed advisable to sell the chapel.* 
The amount obtained for it was JIOOO.; £200. 
were returned to Mr. Lindsey, a small sum was appro- 
priated to unavoidable expenses, and the remainder 
transferred by the Trustees to the support of the 
Plymouth congregation. It would be wrong to ;; 
consider Prejudice and Persecution the sole causes ] 
of the dissolution of the Plymouth Dock congrega- 
tion ; the following remarks by one well qualified 

* Mr. Evans died in 1828, at Plymouth. See Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. 
ii. p. 419. 



528 



DEVONPORT. 



to judge, point to a deficiency of interest in the ser- 
vices of the chapel. '^I would not have it conceived 
that I am desirous of casting an improper reflection 
on those gentlemen who filled the pastoral office/' 
but I am apprehensive that their want of success 
partly arose from the almost total neglect of doctrir - 
nal preaching. Many a time have I heard Mr.'- 
David Evans lament this circumstance, and remark; - 
with considerable emotion, that, were he to go over 
his days again, he should frequently bring into 
view the unity and benevolence of God, the proper 
humanity of Jesus Christ, and the other leading 
doctrines of Unitarianism."* 

Every prospect of a revival of Unitarianism in 
Plymouth Dock had now almost vanished. The 
chapel was sold, — ^the flock scattered, — ^reputed or- 
thodoxy more successful than ever. But the Su- ' 
preme Being was advancing his purposes by means 
unknown to the desponding friends of religious 
truth. In the year 1805, Mr. Silvanus Gribbs, then 
an Arminian, became a resident in the town, and 
undertook a respectable employment in the Dock- 
Yard. He soon became an occasional hearer of the 
Rev. John Hawker, — son of the celebrated Doctor 
of that name, — a most rigid Calvinist, and an active 
opponent of Unitarianism. Mr. Gibbs also read 
several Calvinistic works, and ere long he began to 
regard more favourably the doctrines they incul- 
cated. Violence, however, generally produces a re- 

* Mr. GiBBs's Address at a Meeting of the Devon and Cornwall Associa- 
tion, 1821), Christ. Rcf., Vol. xv. p. AU. 



DEVONPORT. 



529 



action, especially when employed in abusing a sect 
or party on account of a conscientious difference of 
opinion. Both Mr. Hawker and his father were 
accustomed to rail bitterly against the Unitarians, 
and to stigmatize them as disguised infidels, hlasphe- 
mous apostates, and God-denying heretics. This led 
Mr. Gibbs to examine for himself; he studied the; 
Scriptures with the single aim of finding the truth 
as it is in Jesus ; and the consequence was, his 
complete conviction that Unitarian views of the 
Gospel were ''most rational, consistent, and scrip- 
tural, most honourable to God, and most beneficial i 
to man," 

This change was wrought in the year 1810. Mr. 
Gibbs valued his new faith too highly, and felt too 
thankful for the light and peace and strength it 
brought to his own soul, to hide his talent in a 
napkin. He lent his friends the books by which [ 
he had been convinced; he conversed with them ? 
frequently on the all-important subject; and it was i 
not long before his efforts procured for him the ^ 
pleasure of associating with kindred spirits. In : 
1812, a few persons rented a room during four 
months in the summer, where Mr. David Evans, 
the last minister of the old chapel, officiated ; but }) 
for want of proper support, this attempt was aban- 
doned. In October, 1817, Mr. Worsley, then of 
Plymouth, now of Lincoln, commenced a course of 
lectures, which were delivered on Sunday evenings, 
once a fortnight, in a school-room at the back of 
George Street. These lectures were continued until 

2 M 



530 



DEVONPORT. 



the following May, and made a considerable though 
silent impression. The intervening Sunday even- 
ings v^ere filled up by Mr. Evans^ in conjunction 
with Mr. Cree and Mr. Gibbs ; but as the number 
of regular attendants w^as not large^ and several ob- 
jected to a morning service in consequence of their 
wish to attend the chapel at Plymouth on that part 
of the day, there was another cessation about Mid- 
summer in the same year. 

Still the Unitarians of Plymouth Dock did not 
despair. By meeting occasionally, keeping up their 
library, and circulating tracts, they were always 
ready to avail themselves of a favourable oppor- 
tunity for re-assembling regularly. Accordingly, 
in the spring of 1819, on a visit from Mr. Wright, 
a Unitarian Missionary, they were found meeting 
in a room then partially occupied by a congregation 
of Universalists. On this occasion the spirit of in- 
quiry received a strong impulse ; soon afterwards 
several of the Universalists embraced Unitarianism, 
and in January, 1820, Mr. Evans, Mr. Worsley, 
Mr. Gibbs, and a few other friends, engaged to 
conduct morning and evening services regularly. 
In March, 1822, it was deemed necessary to engage 
a more eligible room in Fore Street. Here they 
continued to worship twice every Lord's day for 
seven years, at the expiration of which time their 
numbers and prospects encouraged them to build 
the present chapel. It was opened June 21, 1829, 
when three services were conducted ; the attendance 
was very large, and many other circumstances com- 



DEVONPORT. 



531 



bined to render this a most animating day. The 
chapel is large enough to accommodate about two 
hundred and seventy persons ; the total expense of 
the ground and building amounted to £686. ; the 
greater part of this sum has been contributed by 
strangers at a distance ; a debt of nearly <^100. still 
remains and presses rather heavily on the society. 
One circumstance has induced many to be cheerful 
givers in this interesting case, and will probably 
operate in removing altogether the present burden 
— almost the whole of the wood-work of the chapel 
was completed gratuitously hy members of the con- 
gregation after the usual working-hours of the day. 

By means of their steady, well-directed zeal, this 
interesting society are gradually producing a favour- 
able impression at Devonport. But they are still 
unable to support a minister; — their own means 
of subsistence being chiefly derived from the scanty 
and lately-reduced wages of the Dock- Yard. This 
is to be regretted, because the gratuitous and very 
useful services of Mr. Gibbs are precarious ; his 
health is delicate, and his professional engagements 
during the week are pressing. For some time he 
had the assistance in the new chapel of Mr. Han- 
cock, who died suddenly in October, 1832, and of 
Mr. Bayley, who at the end of the following year re- 
moved to Warminster. The services of Mr. Gibbs 
are not confined to the pulpit ; he has published 
several letters to young people, and other beneficial 
pamphlets. The congregation, regarding the circu- 
lation of books and tracts as among the best means 

2 M 2 



532 



DEVONPORT. 



of disseminating their principles, have collected a 
Chapel Library which now contains nearly one 
thousand books and tracts. Not only (says a 
neighbouring minister) do the members study these 
books at their own houses and lend them to others ; 
but it is their custom to meet in the chapel on 
Tuesday evenings, for the purpose of reading and 
conversing on religious subjects. And I know not 
a more interesting sight than that which is presented 
by a number of men in humble circumstances, thus 
meeting together after the labours of the day in 
the house which has been erected mainly through 
their own exertions, partly by their own hands, and 
dedicated to the worship of the Universal Father, 
and there reading of his works and ways, and con- 
versing on subjects the most exalting and ennobling 
upon which the human mind can be exercised." * 

* Letter on hehalf of the Congregation, ly the Rev. W. J. Odgers, of 
Plymouth. 



58g 



FALMOUTH and FLUSHING. 

The County of Cornwall contains only two Uni- 
tarian congregations. Both have been formed since 
the beginning of the present century. About forty 
ministers were ejected from livings in Cornwall in 
1662, but the number of Presbyterians was never 
large. Some of the persecuted pastors found flocks 
in the neighbouring county, and the adherents to 
others were not sufficiently numerous to form per- 
manent congregations. The Baptists and Indepen- 
dents have now many flourishing churches. Wesley 
and Whitfield also collected large societies, and 
rendered incalculable service to the cause of Re- 
ligion. 

In the last century there were societies at Fal- 
mouth, Truro, and a few other places, which pos- 
sessed the services of liberal Presbyterian ministers. 
That at Liskeard will occur to all who are acquaint- 
ed with the life and writings of the excellent and 
highly-gifted Henry Moore. At various times there 
have also been intelligent and influential individuals 
in the county who have professed Unitarian senti- 
ments. The late Rev. Sir Harry Trelawny, Bart., 
is wxll known to have halted at one period of his 



FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. 



535 



life at this form of Christianity. I have already 
noticed his assistance at an ordination service at 
Lympstone, in conjunction with Dr. Priestley, Dr. 
Kippis, and Mr. Towgood. He also, for some time, 
used Lindsey's Keformed Liturgy in his own chapel 
at Trelawny. In 1822, great interest was excited 
in the religious circles of the West by the supposed 
heterodoxy of another Baronet, the late Sir Rose 
Price, of Trenguainton, near Penzance, who had 
served the office of High Sheriff in 1814, and was 
highly respected both in public and private life.* 
This gentleman was obliged to resign his office of 
President of a religious society in consequence of 
his rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity, and his 
avowal that he would do all in his power to pro- 
mote the worship of the Father only, and the diffu- 
sion of other opinions which he deemed scriptural. 
About the same time, the friends of free inquiry in 
Cornwall were presented with an excellent pamphlet, 
entitled The Unitarian Doctrine briefly stated by 
a Physician," which was understood to be from the 
pen of a gentleman distinguished both for high at- 
tainments and extensive usefulness. 

In 1811, the Rev. R. Wright visited Cornwall at 
the request of the Committee of the Unitarian Fund. 
His chief object was to ascertain how far future 
missions among the inhabitants would be likely to 
prove successful. His report was so satisfactory, 
that it induced the Committee soon after his return 
to send another missionary — Mr. Gisburne, to 

* Mon. Rcpos., Vol. xix. p. 88. 



536 



FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. 



strengthen the interest excited by his visits. The 
labours of these missionaries were principally en- 
couraged at Falmouth^ a place of great commerce, 
and in Flushing, a village at a short distance from 
Falmouth, on the eastern side of the harbour. 
Before the arrival of Mr. Wright, several candid 
and intelligent members of the Wesleyan societies 
in these places had been led by their own serious 
and unbiassed study of the Scriptures, to doubt the 
truth of the commonly-received doctrines. At this 
period their number consisted of about twelve ; they 
pursued their inquiries with great earnestness ; and 
the result was, their abandonment of the doctrine of 
the Trinity and several kindred tenets, and their 
cordial adoption of the Unitarian faith and worship. 
The existence of this band of Bereans induced Mr. 
Wright to renew his efforts ; he revisited Cornwall 
twice, — in 1815, with the Rev. T. Cooper, and in 
1819, with the Bev. J. Smethurst. On both occa- 
sions the missionaries went to various parts of the 
county, addressed large congregations, and distri- 
buted a great number of tracts ; but it does not 
appear that permanent impressions were made in 
any towns besides Falmouth and Flushing. 

We must now go back to the year 1812, when 
those decisive steps were taken which occasioned 
the establishment of Unitarian worship. The 
movement was commenced at Flushing in conse- 
quence of an inquisition, authorized by the Confe- 
rence and conducted by a Mr. Seckerson, — an assist- 
ant preacher, concerning the supposed heresy of a 



FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. 



537 



few members of the Methodist society in that town. 
Mr. Seckerson had just returned from London^ in- 
vested with full power by the Conference to excom- 
municate all who could not give him satisfactory 
answers to his questions upon the six articles of 
what he called genuine Methodism.^ When he had 
preached his first sermon, he requested the society, 
or members of the church, to remain in the chapel; 
and, after praying for his mistaken brethren, he 
proceeded to open his commission and question 
the suspected members. Their answers were, of 
course, unsatisfactory ; some of the members were 
expelled on the spot; and the consequence of this 
tyrannical proceeding was, the separation of ten 
members from the Methodist society at Flushing. 

Six weeks afterwards, a similar scene was wit- 
nessed at Falmouth. To this place Mr. Seckerson 
was accompanied by Mr. Riles, the chairman of the 
district. When the usual preaching and praying 
were over, a meeting was held, and questions were 
again put to suspected members. Here the interest 
in this inquisition was considerable, in consequence 
of the religious stations of the heretics, — ^nearly all 
being officers in the church before which they were 
brought to trial. One of the most zealous was at 
the same time a popular Local Preacher, — a Stew- 

* "1. The Total Depravity of Human Nature. 2. The True and Proper 
Deity of Jesus Christ. 3. The Satisfaction to the Divine Justice. 4. 
Faith in the Merits and Intercession of Christ. 5. The immediate in- 
fluence of the Spirit. 6. Endless Rewards and Punishments." — Mon. 
Repos., O. S., Vol. vii. p. 650. 



538 



FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. 



arcl. Leader, and Trustee.* To return to the ques- 
tions of the officers appointed by Conference. Some 
of the accused declined giving any answer. They 
contended that the tribunal was incompetent in 
every point of view. Mr. Philp proved that the 
whole proceeding was inconsistent with the rules of 
the Society, the writings of Wesley, the dictates of 
reason, and — the word of God. Others, thus put 
upon their trial, expressed, with indignant elo- 
quence, their sense of the tyrannical nature of the 
inquisition and their determination to retain their 
mental freedom. The affair was terminated on the 
part of the conclave, by a declaration that the here- 
tics were to be no longer considered officers in the 
church ; on which these noble-minded men retired 
altogether from the Wesleyans, and immediately 
commenced Unitarian worship. 

In the following year (1813) there were about 
thirty professors of Unitarianism in this neighbour- 
hood. The more zealous engaged two large rooms, 
one at Falmouth, the other at Flushing, for public 
religious services ; and both were, at first, well 
filled. Mr. Philp gave his valuable services, and 
was assisted by one of his excommunicated brethren. 
An interesting account of their proceedings in 1815 
is given by Mr. Wright, who visited them in that 

* This was Mr. Philp, who afterwards became the minister of the Uni- 
tarian congregation at Lincoln, and is now one of the valuable missionaries 
employed by the City INIission Society in London (consisting of Unitarians) 
for visiting and relieving the poor at their own houses, and imparting re- 
ligious instruction to them and their children on the Lord's day. 



FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. 



539 



year,* "They retain (he says) the best part of 
Methodism, — zeal, a high degree of the devotional 
spirit, and the habit of attending diligently to pub- 
lic worship and other religious services.'' About 
this time the Unitarians at Falmouth, finding the 
situation of their room inconvenient and discourag- 
ing, and v^ishing to obtain a more permanent settle- 
ment, attempted to buy a piece of ground for build- 
ing, but were prevented by their opponents. In 
1816, the theatre, which they had also previously 
tried in vain to procure, was unexpectedly offered 
them; they immediately made the purchase, and 
fitted up the building for public worship. The stage 
is used as a vestry and Sunday school-room ; con- 
nected with the building are a stable and a hay-loft, 
the rent of which has been highly serviceable to the 
finances. The total expense amounted to £560. ; 
the sum of £"^00. was contributed almost immedi- 
ately by Unitarians in various parts of the country ; 
but a great part of the remainder is still unpaid. 
The chapel was opened June 26, 1818. Dr. Car- 
penter preached twice, and the devotional services 
were conducted by Mr. Philp and Mr. Smethurst. 

For some years the congregation at Falmouth 
continued in a promising state. It depended, how- 
ever, almost entirely on the services of lay preach- 
ers, which at length became precarious; this cir- 
cumstance occasioned a diminution in the number 
of hearers. In 1827, Mr. Philp removed to Lin- 
coln; but visits continued to be paid occasionally 

* Wright's Life and Labours, p. 392. 



540 



FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. 



by missionaries from London. It should also be 
mentioned, that the preaching of the latter produced 
a deep conviction of the value of religion in the 
minds of several young men, v^^ho exerted themselves 
on behalf of the Falmouth society. Tw^o of these, 
soon after this period, quitted their native homes> 
to commence their studies for the Christian minis- 
try ; — both are now occupying important stations in 
the West of England. In the year 1829, Mr. 
Harding, v^ho had for many years officiated as a 
missionary in various parts of the kingdom, took up 
his residence at Falmouth and regularly ministered 
to the little church. He, however, quitted two years 
afterwards for America. 

Within the last few years the services have been 
generally conducted by Mr. Philp, Jun., the Editor 
and printer of the Christian Child's Faithful Friend. 
The congregation is very small, and Mr. Philp per- 
severes amidst many discouraging circumstances. 

The recent history of the society at Flushing so 
nearly resembles that of its Falmouth neighbour as 
to render a separate statement unnecessary. It 
must be recorded, however, that, by the generous 
efforts of one or two individuals, the chapel at 
Flushing has been lately purchased and secured to 
the Unitarians. The services are regularly con- 
ducted by Mr. Odgers, Sen., one of the serious and 
independent inquirers who were declared to be un- 
worthy of holding office among the Wesley ans. 



SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. 



541 



mti^mmmr 

SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE REV^. SIR HARRY TRE- 
LAWNY, BARONET. 

This eccentric religionist was descended from an ancient and 
honourable family in the county of Cornwall. Trelawnj, the 
seat of his ancestors, was, when he took possession of it, a vene- 
rable Gothic mansion, rendered peculiarly striking by its old 
towers rising amidst the surrounding woods. 

He received part of his education at Westminster School, and 
completed it at Christ Church College, Oxford. Even when 
very young, his sobriety and religious turn of mind rendered 
him an object of ridicule to his gay companions. This, how- 
ever, he had sufficient strength of mind to enable him to disre- 
gard ; and by pursuing the same course he obtained, while at 
the University, the friendship and affection of Dr. Bagot, Dr. 
Horne, and several other dignitaries of the Church. 

When the time came for him to take his Bachelor's degree, it 
was found that his conscience, as well as his habitual deport- 
ment, was purer than that of many of his brethren. Before he 
declared " his unfeigned assent and consent to all and every 
thing contained in the Book of Common Prayer," he chose to 
examine whether he could, bond fide, make such a declaration. 
This examination excited in his mind many doubts and much 
uneasiness, and he saw plainly that subscription to articles of 
faith was not a matter to be trifled with ; but the plausible rea- 
soning of some friends to whom he stated his objections, ledis 
him to acquiesce ; and he remained for a little while a true son 
of the Church. .y 

Before he left Oxford, however, he formed an acquaintance^ 
with some enthusiasts, who made a great impression upon him. 
Under their influence, and guided, as he generally was in after 
life, by a warm imagination rather than by sober reason, he at- 
tached himself to the Methodists. On coming into the country, 
he made an intimate companion of the celebrated Rowland Hill, 



542 



SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. 



with whom he travelled through the towns and villages of Corn- 
wall, preaching at all hours — in fields, in streets — wherever they 
could collect a company to hear them. Sir Harry excited espe- 
cial attention ; he had such a thundering voice, such a copious- 
ness of words, such bold figures and flights of fancy, such a 
commanding appearance and earnestness of address, that many 
of his uncultured auditors looked up to him as to an angel 
dropped from the clouds. 

On some occasions the orators were calmly remonstrated with 
by their friends, and on others they experienced ungentler usage. 
At a fair in Pelint, where they resolved " to attack Satan on his 
own ground," the crowd were equally determined to prevent 
them from putting their warlike intentions in practice; and had 
it not been for the rank of one of the combatants, they would 
certainly have been pelted out of the town. At Saltash, when 
Sir Harry was in the market-place, haranguing a numerous 
auditory, some gentlemen of the neighbourhood interrupted 
their devotion by riding in among them with a pack of hounds, 
which made such hideous cries, and caused such a commotion 
among the people, that the preacher could not be heard, and 
therefore thought proper to withdraw. The chief gentleman of 
the town came afterwards to him, told him that he was the cause 
of the interruption — that he did it out of respect to Sir Harry's 
family — that he was not willing he should so expose himself, 
and, " Depend on it, Sir Harry, (said he,) if you ever come to 
your senses, you will thank me for it ! " This prediction, it is 
said, was actually verified. It may, however, be justly suggested 
that such was not the best mode that could be adopted for re- 
moving the evil. Some "respect" was due to Sir Harry's 
auditors, poor and illiterate as they were ; his pursuits were pro- 
bably quite as harmless as those of his fox-hunting disturbers ; 
and if he " exposed himself" by preaching to a crowd, there was 
almost as questionable an exhibition on the part of those who 
sent their pack of hounds among them. It is also related, that 
durhig the silent pause that preceded his ministrations before an 
audience in a spacious hall at Totness, a physician of that town, 



SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. 



who regarded the Baronet with concern, exclaimed at the door 
of entrance in a well-known verse — 

"Ah! Corydon, Corydon, quae te dementia cepit?" 

"Ah! Corydon, Corydon, what infatuation has seized thee?" 

These circumstances cooled Sir Harry's zeal, and he soon 
relinquished preaching in the open air. Being frequently in 
London, he commenced an acquaintance with the more mode- 
rate Dissenters — particularly the Independents. From them he 
imbibed the principles of Nonconformity ; and ere long he sent 
to Oxford and had his name erased from the College boohs. 
Soon afterwards he was ordained at Southampton, in the meet- 
ing-house of the Rev. Mr. Kingsbury, — that pious and liberal 
minister, with several others of the same denomination, engagiug 
in the usual service. His confession of faith was Calvinistic, 
but the reasons he assigned for his Nonconformity w^ere solid 
and important; and in proportion as he read and thought, his 
sentiments on other subjects approached nearer the pure and 
benignant religion of the gospel. Meanwhile he engaged the 
Rev. Mr. Clayton as his domestic chaplain, and built a meeting- 
house at West Looe for his own followers, who were very nu- 
merous, and to whom he officiated a considerable time. About 
the same period, he increased his attachment to home by marry- 
ing Miss Browne, the daughter of a clergyman at Kingstone, 
near Taunton, — an excellent and accomplished young lady. 

A gradual alteration now took place in Sir Harry Trelawny's 
opinions and style of preaching. " He was no longer (says 
one of his intimate friends) the fiery bigot, denouncing 
anathemas on all who differed from him. His sentiments 
became more moderate ; his censoriousness was exchanged for 
Christian charity ; the catholic principles of religious liberty 
daily gained ground in his mind, and he was now justly entitled 
to the noble epithet of a rational, liberal Dissenter." This 
change was accelerated in some degree by the new friends with 
whom Sir Harry was acquainted. The excellent Mr. Howe, 
late of Bridport, then a student at Hoxton, was an occasional 



544 



SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. 



visiter at Trelawny, and afterwards succeeded Mr. Clayton in 
the office of chaplain. In 1778, the reverend Baronet was ad- 
mitted a member of the Exeter Assembly, and preached a sermon 
before that respectable body, which was published, and which, 
though not distinguished by depth of judgment or close reason- 
ing, is written with classical elegance and precision, and breathes 
a Christian spirit of candour and benevolence. About the 
same time, he published a sermon which he had preached in the 
Presbyterian chapel at Taunton ; this production manifested 
(says Mr. Howe) "a mind engaged in the search of truth, un- 
terrified by the anathemas of the bigot, and unconcerned about 
the consequences of free inquiry and impartial examination." 

An account of Sir Harry's co-operation with Dr. Priestley, 
Dr. Kippis, and others, at an ordination at Lympstone, has been 
given elsewhere. Notwithstanding the candour and fearlessness 
displayed by him on this occasion, there was soon afterwards 
observable " an inconstancy of mind and fickleness of temper, 
which seemed to indicate that the revolutions in his religious 
sentiments were not at an end." Some of his friends in the 
Established Church, knowing his disposition better than he 
knew it, availed themselves of every opportunity of urging him 
to return to his alma mater. Still confident, however, of the 
correctness of the position he had assumed, and anxious to jus- 
tify himself to the world, he published a letter to a clergyman 
containing his reasons for joining and continuing with the Dis- 
senters. From this production it was evident that he believed 
the doctrines of the Church to be unscriptural, and that he re- 
garded " submission to terms of clerical conformity as inconsist- 
ent with the allegiance due to Jesus Christ, the sole Head and 
Lawgiver of the Church." But the effect of this literary effort 
was not what he expected. Instead of quieting his friends, it 
brought from them a number of letters, in the shape of answers, 
more earnest and more plausible than ever. Sir Harry began 
to waver. Ere long he was in great distress and anxiety of 
mind. And now he had many interview's with the Bishop of 
Exeter, the Archbishop of York, and many other of his old 



SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. 



545 



friends. They saw that the greatest stumbling-block in his way 
to conformity was subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles ; and 
this they removed by virtually saying to him, " If you subscribe, 
Sir Harry, the whole meaning of your subscription will be, that 
you are a Christian'' f In less than two months after the pub- 
lication of his apology, he returned to the communion of the 
Established Church. The reader will scarcely be able to decide 
which was the more lamentable, the fickleness of the Baronet or 
the fallacies of his friends. * 

It should be mentioned, that considerations of a minor nature 
were presented to Sir Harry Trelawny. He was reminded of 
the desirableness of "returning to the religion of his a7icestors, 
and retrieving the honour of his family ^ He was certainly 

* The same fallacies are still maintained in high places. See the speech 
of the Bishop of Exeter, in a recent discussion in the House of Lords, on a 
Bill for Abolishing Subscription to Articles of Faith in the English Univer- 
sities. See also the admirable speech of the Earl of Radnor, by whom the 
Bill was introduced. In this speech was the following sentence: "The 
idea which was disseminated, that young men might be allowed to sign 
these articles without understanding them, was a doctrine, the propagation 
of which must, in his opinion, tend to undermine the best principles of 
morality, and to inculcate equivocation and hypocrisy." 

The feelings, if not the expressions, at many a matriculation scene have 
been thus faithfully described by a popular poet. He pictures a well-known 
polemic making known liis version of the Thirty -nine Articles to an inqui- 
sitive student : — 

Doctor P . 

" Oh, a mere form of words, to make things smooth and brief, — 
A commodious and short make-believe of belief, 
Which our Church has drawn up, in a form thus articular, 
To keep out, in general, all who're particular — 
But what's the boy doing ? What I reading all through. 
And my luncheon fast cooling ! — this never will do 1 

Boy (poring over the articles). Here are points, which — 
Pray, Doctor, what's 'Grace of Congruity'? 

Dr. P. (sharply) . You'll find out, young Sir, when you've more 
ingenuity. 

At present, by signing, you pledge yourself merely, 
Whatever it may be, to believe it sincerely. 
Both in dining and signing we take the same plan, — 
First, to swallow all down, then digest — as we can." 

2 N 



546 



SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. 



influenced, in no small degree, by those stronger appeals to the 
senses which were found in the services of the Established 
Church, and which he always admired while he professed Uni- 
tarianism. Mr. Howe, who was often in his company after his 
conformity, frequently heard him declare that he did not believe 
the Creeds and articles of the Church of England in their literal 
sense, but that he put his own construction upon them, and 
thought he might maintain the two characters — a clergyman of 
the Establishment and an inquirer after truth. 

All who differ from the Baronet on these points, and all who 
have observed the deplorable want of decision which he mani- 
fested, as well as his love of forms and ceremonies, will not be 
surprised to hear that he wandered once more before he died ; — 
he became a Roman Catholic. 

Amidst all these changes his private character commanded 
general respect. He died at an advanced age, about the begin- 
ning of the year 1834, at Lavino, on the Lago Maggiore, in the 
Milanese. His title devolved on his son, William Trelawny, 
Esq., Member of Parliament for the eastern division of Corn- 
wall. * 

* Christian Reformer, N. S., Vol. i. p. 502 and p. 506. 



SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY 

OF 

THE EXETER ASSEMBLY OF MINISTERS, 

AND 

THE WESTERN UNITARIAN SOCIETY. 



2 N 2 



Sketch of the History of the Exeter Assembly 
OF Ministers. 



There are traces of the existence of a union among certain 
ministers in Devon and Cornwall, so earlj as the year 1606. 
Those ministers ranked under the denomination of Puritan, and 
experienced their fall share of persecution and obloquy. Their 
objections to various puerile ecclesiastical ceremonies were ex- 
aggerated hy the episcopal party into a denial of the king's 
supremacy ; and they were accordingly charged with disloyalty 
and sedition. This injurious charge had been completely dis- 
proved by Bradshaw's treatise entitled " English Puritanism;" 
but the boldness with which the calumny was still propagated 
obliged the ministers of Devon and Cornwall to unite in pub- 
lishing another defence, entitled " A Removal of Certain Impu- 
tations, &c." * 

* Neal's History of the Puritans, second edition, Vol. i. p. 353. The 
following extract is quoted by Neal, from the treatise published by the 
Devon and Cornwall ministers : — " Let the Bishops sift well our courses 
since his Majesty's happy entrance in among us, and let them name 
wherein we have done aught that may justly be said ill to become the 
ministers of Jesus Christ. Have we drawn any sword ? Have we raised 
any tumult ? Have we raised any threats ? Hath the state been put to 
any fear or hazard through us Manifold disgraces have been cast upon 
us, and we have endured them ; the liberty of our ministry hath been taken 
from us, and (though with bleeding hearts) we have sustained it. We 
have been cast out of our houses, and deprived of our ordinary mainte- 
nance, yet have we blown no trumpet of sedition. These things have gone 
very near us, and yet did we never so much as entertain a thought of 
violence. The truth is, we have petitioned the King and State ; and who 
hath reason to deny us that liberty ? We have craved of the prelates to 
deal with us according to law ; and is not this the common benefit of every 
subject } We have besought them to convince our consciences by Sci'ip- 
ture. Alas ! what would they have us to do ? Will they have us content 
ourselves with this only, that they are Bishops, and therefore for their 
greatness ought to be yielded to ? The weight of episcopal power may 
oppress us, but cannot convince us." 



APPENDIX. 



549 



The Puritan pastors in these counties probably continued to 
act in concert, though not as a regularly constituted body, on 
various occasions during the reigns of James the First and 
Charles the First. It was in the time of the Commonwealth 
that the earliest associations of this kind were organized ; and 
the merit of setting the example is chiefly due to Mr. Baxter 
who, with a few of his brethren, formed an assembly of ministers 
in Worcestershire, in the year 1653.* About the same time, 
Mr. George Hughes, then of Plymouth and afterwards ejected 
from his living in that town, in conjunction with Mr. Thomas 
Ford, one of the preachers at the Exeter Cathedral, who was 
also ejected on Bartholomew Day, " prevailed with the minis- 
ters of those parts. Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Congregational, 
to join in an association for mutual assistance in their ministry. 
They parcelled themselves into seven divisions, each met 
quarterly, and subdivided themselves into lesser bodies, which 
met every six weeks. In their quarterly meetings the Moderator 
opened them with a Latin prayer ; then there was a thesis upon 
some divinity question, and a disputation, wherein all the min- 
isters present opposed the respondent." f 

It appears from this statement, that the original design of the 
Exeter Assembly related more to the mutual benefit of the 
ministers than to the discussion of their congregational affairs. 
Yet either their objects must have been numerous or the danger 
of irregularity great, for we are told that thirty rules were laid 
down for their government. Some of these rules breathe a very 
liberal spirit. All the divisions met annually at Exeter, — a 
practice which promoted their acquaintance and amicable corre- 
spondence with each other. The first meeting was held October 
18, 1655 ; and another in the month of May in the following 
year ; — Mr. Hughes, of Plymouth, presided over both. They 
were soon joined by several episcopal divines of high character ; 
and the benevolent intentions of the founders of the institution 
were already in the course of fulfilment. " By these Assem- 
blies," says Mr. Baxter, " they opened and preserved a friendly 



Mon. Rep. Vol. xii. p. 641. f Noncon. Mem. Vol. i. p. 391. 



550 



APPENDIX. 



correspondence amongst ministers, they removed a great many 
prejudices and misunderstandings, insomuch that the controver- 
sial heats of angry men began to be allayed, their spirits better- 
ed, and the ends of religion more generally promoted."* Too 
soon, alas, was this improvement checked ; the re-establishment 
of Episcopacy at the Restoration was the signal for the revival 
of all old sectarian jealousies ; it was unsafe for any body of 
men in the slightest degree opposed to the new state of things 
to meet together ; and the first Exeter Assembly was dissolved 
when it had existed little more than four years I The minutes 
of their proceedings during this interesting period are still pre- 
served. 

Thirty years elapsed before the times permitted the formation 
of a similar body. It was in 1691 that this object was under- 
taken and the present association commenced. At the first 
meeting, Mr. Sanders, ejected from Kentisbeare and settled at 
Tiverton, presided as Moderator ; and Mr. Caryl, ejected from 
Uplawman and settled at Crediton, preached. These ministers 
were Presbyterians ; and their original object appears to have 
been the establishment of a clerical board consisting exclusively 
of members of their own body. But at the second meeting, Mr. 
Flavel, of Dartmouth, another ejected minister, and a truly 
catholic Christian, being called upon to preach, took occasion 
to suggest the propriety of a union among Dissenters of different 
denominations, and eventually succeeded. The minutes of this 
Assembly, from its formation in 1691 down to the year 1721, 
are lost ; — there are, however, various accounts of its proceed- 
ings, in pamphlets published in the West of England during the 
inter \^al, which shew that its spirit was very different from that 

* Quoted by Mr. Manning, in a discourse delivered before the Assem- 
bly, June 24, 1818, and published at their unanimous request. Appended 
to this discourse is a list of the Protestant Dissenting ministers settled in 
Devonshire, from 1662 to 1818. The value of this Hst would have been 
considerably enhanced by the introduction of dates, shewing the duration 
of the labours of each minister. It may also be remarked, that several 
typographical errors both in the discourse and the appendix, escaped the 
observation of the compiler. 



APPENDIX. 



551 



of the assemblies which were honoured with the eulogy of Bax- 
ter. This may be inferred from those imperfect notices of the 
proceedings of the Exeter body which I have had occasion to 
introduce in the preceding pages. Ample allowance should un- 
questionably be made for the difficulties in which the earliest 
Nonconformists were involved, and, especially, for the necessity, 
imposed by their peculiar position — of securing a well-educated 
ministry. It is impossible, however, for any enlightened Dis- 
senter of the present day to look back upon the inquisitorial 
proceedings of the Exeter Assembly, during the interval in 
question, — particularly, in reference to the opinions of Stogdon, 
Peirce, and Hallet, without acknowledging that the members 
violated the plainest principles of Christian liberty, acted incon- 
sistently with their own professions as Protestant Dissenters^ 
and employed their unwarrantable power in promoting, not " the 
ends of religion" but "envy, hatred, and all uncharitableness." 

The minutes of the Assembly from the year 1721 to the pre- 
sent time are preserved. They afford no indication of improve- 
ment in the spirit or objects of the association for upwards of 
thirty years. Their proceedings were similar, in many respects, 
to those of the] Presbyteries of their forefathers ; which, there 
is reason to suppose, many of the members would have gladly 
revived. " In these assemblies," says Mr. Manning,* " a mode- 
rator was chosen, who opened and conducted the meeting with 
prayer. In the morning service, two or three ministers took a 
part. They met again in the afternoon to consult about the 
affairs of their respective societies, distributed the collections 
received from them, examined the testimonials of those who 
offered themselves as candidates for the ministry, appointed 
three of their number to inquire more particularly into their 
acquaintance with the doctrines of Christianity, into the progress 
they had made in literature, the views with which they under- 
took the ministry, and their aptness to teach ; in order to judge 
of which a theological thesis was to be exhibited in I^atin, to 
the perusal of the examiners, and if they found them qualified 

* Discourse before the Assembly, p. 12. 



552 



APPENDIX. 



for the Christian ministry, they gave them a certificate of their 
approbation. The Assembly then appointed the ordainers. 
From these minntes it appears, that the members of the Assem- 
bly agreed that they should not meddle with politics or the 
affairs of civil government, or pretend to exercise any church 
censures, but only assist, advise, and encourage, each other in 
propagating truth and holiness, and keeping their churches free 
from illiterate ministers and scandalous communicants/' This 
agreement, which, if generally acted up to in the letter, was often 
departed from in the spirit by the Assembly at this period, owed 
its origin to the "Articles of Concord," drawn up by the first 
Assembly in the year 1655. * 

It was about the middle of the last century that this body 
began to see the necessity of relinquishing a part of their un- 
scriptural authority. The removal of Mr. Towgood to Exeter^ 
which took place in 1749, gave that gentleman an opportunity 
of advocating with success his own liberal and enlightened opi- 
nions on this subject. By means of his arguments, many mem- 
bers of the Assembly gradually became convinced that their 
conduct, with regard to the examination of candidates for the 
ministry, was wrong, — that, by insisting upon qualifications 
which the Scriptures do not require, they assumed an unlawful 
jurisdiction over the consciences of men. " They perceived," 
says Mr. Manning,t " that admitting one unscriptural test to be 
proposed, by an order of the Assembly, as a necessary term of 
admission to the Christian mmistry, was a matter of very seri- 
ous moment, and drew after it consequences extremely im- 
portant ; for, one being admitted, two, ten, or thirty-nine might 
with equal right be hereafter added, the tendency of which 
was too obvious not to be observed, and too formidable not to 
be the object of dread. It being therefore proposed to the As- 
sembly which met in 1753, to take into consideration the fol- 

* Manning's Life of Towgood, p. 1 1. At the ordination of Mr. Towgood, 
in 1722, the subject which the Assembly desired him to treat on was, 
"An Baptisma Infanium sit validum ?" 

t Discourse, p. 14. 



APPENDIX, 



553 



lowing question, * whether the Assembly will recommend any 
Candidates who refuse to declare their faith in the Deity of the 
Son and the Holy Spirit/ it was debated whether the question 
should be put, and decided by a considerable majority in the 
negative. This debate would probably have given rise to very 
w^arm animosities, had they not been very seasonably dis- 
countenanced by the truly catholic and conciliating conduct of 
some aged ministers. * In consequence of this vote, it has been 
left wholly with the respective congregations to satisfy them- 
selves of the qualifications of the persons they choose for their 
ministers." 

Towards the close of the last century, a still farther improve- 
ment became visible in the proceedings of the Exeter Assembly. 
This may undoubtedly be attributed, in a great degree, to the 
influence and exertions of two ministers who have been fre- 
quently mentioned in these pages, — the Rev. Joseph Bretland, 
and the Rev. Timothy Kenrick. While these gentlemen were 
anxious that the immediate objects of the Assembly should be 
vigorously promoted, and that the members should avail them- 
selves of the light which had been increasing for nearly a cen- 
tury f — the time during which their institution had existed, — 
they were also desirous of proving that they and their brethren 
could extend their interest to those occurrences, whether in the 
West of England or at a distance, in which was involved the 
welfare of Protestant Dissent. Accordingly we find that one of 
those welcome addresses which, in the year 1791, poured in 
upon the persecuted Dr. Priestley, was from the Exeter Assem- 
bly ; and it is impossible to avoid admiring the contrast be- 
tween their spirit at this period, and that w^hich they manifest- 
ed at the beginning of the century. "We think ourselves 
bound (they say in addressing Dr. Priestley), though several of 

* See a letter by the Rev. P. Baron, of Plymouth, to the Rev. J. Wal- 
rond, of Exeter, formerly of Ottery,— the latter being one of the most 
violent advocates for doctrinal tests. — Life of Towgood, p. 55. 

t See Mr. Kenrick's sermon, " An inquiry into the best method of com- 
municating religious knowledge to young men," preached before the As- 
sembly, May 7, 1788. 



554 



APPENDIX. 



us differ from you in opinion on various subjects, to seize the 
opportunity which our meeting affords us of uniting in an ad- 
dress to jou on the occasion of your late sufferings and losses." 
Again, " It affords us great pleasure to hear that you have al- 
ready received a letter of condolence from some of our brethren 
of different religious sentiments and denominations, couched in 
terms expressive of warm affection and esteem. We would 
flatter ourselves that this noble example of a truly liberal spirit 
and behaviour will be followed by many others, and that one 
beneficial consequence of the late riots at Birmingham will be, 
the establishment of a closer union, and of a more general and 
friendly intercourse among Dissenters of every description."* 

The discourse by Mr. Manning, of much of whose valuable 
testimony the reader has already had the advantage, brings the 
history of the Assembly down to the year 1818. It appears 
that several alterations had been made from time to time in the 
rules, the most important of which bears date September, 1801, 
when it was resolved that there should be only one assembly 
in the year, to be held on the last Wednesday in June. The 
following extract contains a pleasing statement of Mr. Manning's 
experience as a member of this venerable body. " During forty- 
four years in which I have resided in this county, I do not re- 
member having been once absent from the Assembly, and am 
therefore a competent witness, and have no hesitation in declar- 
ing, that these meetings have always been conducted with great 
decency and order, and have, in no small degree, conduced to 
the comfort and encouragement of the ministers, cherished 
mutual affection, and animated them to more zealous exertions 
in the duties of their profession. We do not meet as a priest- 
hood, a privileged order, distinct from our brethren, as having 
an interest different from theirs. We utterly disclaim all pre- 
tensions to religious domination, to the least shadow of au- 
thority or controul over the faith or religious practice of our 
fellow-christians. We do not assemble ourselves together to 
settle any point of doctrine, or any matter of Christitm disci- 



* Priestley's Works, Rutt's edition, Vol. i. Part i. p. 154. 



APPENDIX. 



555 



pline. We do not hold our assembly on the narrow principles 
of a party, but on the broad grounds of unlimited freedom of 
inquiry, and the brotherhood of all who believe that Jesus is the 
Christ." 

Strange as it may appear, in proportion as these sentiments 
have gained ground in the Assembly, the interest of the Devon 
and Cornwall ministers in its proceedings has declined. The 
annual meeting is still held at George's Meeting, on the last 
Wednesday in June ; but the number of members is much re- 
duced. There is a morning service, — the preacher and the 
minister to pray having been appointed at the previous annual 
meeting ; two others are nominated to officiate in the event of 
their failure. After the service, the ministers who are members 
of the Assembly meet in the vestry, when the preacher of the 
former year acts as Moderator, and opens and concludes the 
meeting with prayer. The chief object of this meeting is to 
grant exhibitions out of the fimds of the Assembly to the minis- 
ters of small congregations needing assistance. Afterwards the 
members dine together, and thus conclude that interchange of 
thought and feeling which is still found, as it was in the time of 
the excellent Baxter, to "better the spirits" of men, and pro- 
mote " the great ends of religion." 



556 



APPENDIX. 



Sketch of the History 
OF the Western Unitarian Society. 

The first rnle of this Society requires that it " shall be de- 
nominated the Society of Unitarian Christians, established in 
the West of England, for promoting Christian Knowledge and 
the practice of Virtue by distributing books." 

The qualification for membership has never included a decla- 
ration of assent to any articles of faith. The terms of admission 
are thus stated in the fifth rule of the original code : — " Every 
person recommended after the meeting in May, 1792, by two 
members, shall be considered as a member of this Society, upon 
paying his admission fee and subscription for the current year, 
or compounding for his subscription." The admission fee was 
ten shillings and sixpence, the annual subscription — the same 
sum, and the composition — the payment, at one time, of five 
guineas. 

There was, however, a preamble to the rules, drawn up by 
the founders of the Society, in the principles avowed by which 
the members were supposed to concur. After asserting that the 
value of Christianity is lessened by the errors \vhich are blended 
with it, the preamble thus continues : — " Considering that one 
principal obstruction to the progress of just sentiments in religion 
has arisen from the want of an open avowal of them, on the part 
of those by whom they have been embraced, or of other methods 
of making them known to the world, we have thought proper to 
associate ourselves together, in order to distribute among those 
who are disposed to inquire, such books as appear to us to con- 
tain the purest account of the doctrines of revelation, and to be 
the best calculated to promote the interests of true piety and virtue, 
but more particularly among such persons as, from their situation 
in life, are precluded in a great measure from obtaining the means 
of information ; declaring it to be the fundamental principle of 
the Societ}', in which we all agree, tliat there is hut One God, the 



APPENDIX. 



557 



Creator and Governor of the Universe^ withoitt an equal or a vice- 
gerent, the only proper object of religious worship ; and that Jesus 
Christ was the most eminent of those messengers which he has em- 
ployed to reimd his will to mankind, possessing extraordinary pow- 
ers similar to those received hy other prophets, but in a much higher 
degree. While we thus declare our belief in the strict unity of 
God, and cannot but regard every practice as idolatrous which 
attributes any of the prerogatives of the Deity to another, a 
conclusion in which we think ourselves warranted by the lan- 
guage of Scripture, we would not be understood to assert that 
we think such practices are attended with the same immoral 
consequences as the idolatry which prevailed in the ancient 
heathen world. That they are, however, in all cases injurious, 
and in some highly criminal, we have no doubt ; but how far 
they may be so in any particular instance we pretend not to de- 
termine, as it must depend upon circumstances which can be 
knowm only to the individuals concerned, and to that Being who 
searches their hearts." 

This preamble was framed in unison with one which had been 
adopted a few months previously on the formation of the London 
Unitarian Book Society, or, as it was then called, "the Unita- 
rian Society" — there being no other of the same kind in the 
kingdom. The association in the West of England was found- 
ed by a few gentlemen who advocated the principles to which 
their friends in London attached the greatest importance — viz., 
that the worship of Jesus Christ was idolatrous, and that devia- 
tions from the doctrine of our Lord's simple humanity were 
highly injurious. The idea of forming the Society originated 
with W. Davy, Esq., of Fordton, who presided, in ] 834, at the 
forty-second amiual meeting. By Mr. Davy the suggestion 
appears to have been communicated to the Rev. Timothy Ken- 
rick, of Exeter. This faithful labourer was also anxious that an 
effort should be made in the West of England. " He had 
formed a plan" (says his son — the Rev. J. Kenrick, of York,)* 

* Mon. Rep., Vol. xiii. p. 230. The materials for this account were 
derived from a series of letters put into the hands of the author — Mr. John 



558 



APPENDIX. 



" for the delivery of a series of lectures upon those doctrines of 
Christianity of which erroneous notions commonly prevail, and 
had engaged eight or nine ministers in Exeter and its vicinity 
to bear a part in it. The chief peculiarity in the plan was, that 
the whole course was to be delivered in one place, by the asso- 
ciated preachers, each taking his turn, at the interval of a fort- 
night, and then to be repeated to their respective congregations, 
till the whole series had been preached in every place compre- 
hended in the union. A week-day evening was chosen both 
for the convenience of the ministers, and to avoid giving offence 
to those who disliked the introduction of controversy into the 
pulpit on the sabbath. The sermon was to contain ' a brief but 
comprehensive view of the arguments from reason and scripture, 
in support of the doctrine maintained, accompanied with infe- 
rences and observations calculated to shew that it will have no 
unfavourable influence upon the religious conduct of those by 
whom it is embraced, but, on the contrary, affords a good or a 
better foundation for peace and comfort, and for the duties of 
piety and morality, than the opposite opinion. The whole to 
be conducted with as little appearance of controversy as can 
be admitted.' The Mint Meeting, at Exeter, which had been 
built for Mr. James Peirce, as a refuge to heresy and liberty of 
conscience from the fury of the western inquisitors, was the 
place fixed upon for the first delivery of the lectures ; but, on 
application being made to the Trustees, the use of it for such a 
purpose was refused." 

The author proceeds to express his belief that this refusal 
<^ arose, not from any hostility to Unitarianism, but from a fear 
that the jealousy of Government, then beginning to be awakened 
by the introduction of revolutionary principles from France, 
might be excited by this open attack on established opinions, 
or even the buildings be endangered by the outrages of a church- 
and-king mob." In consequence of this difficulty at the outset, 
the scheme for delivering a series of lectures was never carried 

Kenrick, by Mr. Isaac, of Moreton-Hampstead, to whom they were ad- 
dressed by Mr. Timothy Kenrick. 



APPENDIX. 



559 



into execution : although, in a letter written by Mr. Kenrick to 
Mr. Isaac immediatelj after, he announces his design of per- 
severing in it. The object which these zealous individuals so 
ardently desired to see accomplished, was, in the course of a few 
months, promoted in a way which they probably did not antici- 
pate. On the fourth of January, 1792, several ministers and 
other friends of religious truth assembled at Bridwell, near Col- 
lumpton, the seat of Richard Hall Clarke, Esq., to witness the 
opening of an Unitarian chapel erected by that gentleman. On 
this occasion, the best means of diffusing the true doctrines of 
the Gospel formed the prevailing subject of conversation ; — the 
establishment of the London Society was probably quoted as an 
example ; and, in consequence of the failure of the plan for de- 
livering lectures at Exeter, it was determined to form a similar ^ 
society for the West of England. Mr. Kenrick undertook to 
draw up the Rules and Preamble. These were submitted to a 
meeting held at Exeter, May 11, 1792, R. H. Clarke, Esq., in 
the chair. It was then resolved that the Rules and Preamble 
should be printed, — that the first general meeting of the sub- 
scribers should be held at Crediton, September 6, 1 792, — and 
that the Rev. Mr. Toulmin should be desired to preach a ser- 
mon on the occasion. These resolutions were carried into effect. 
Mr. Clarke consented to act as Treasurer, and Mr. Kenrick as 
Secretary. The sermon was printed and circulated with the 
rules of the society ; it was entitled, " The Character of Christ 
as the Witness to the Truth" ; it excited considerable interest, 
and has since passed through a second edition. m sa'F 

The Society at the time of its first general meeting consisted 
of thirty-one members.* For many years the additions were 

* List of the Jirst Members. 

Rev. M. Anstis, Bridport. 
Rev. T. Belsham, New College, Hackney. 
Mr. W. Browne, Jun., CoUumpton. 
Mr. Basnett, Bath. 

R. H. Clarke, Esq., Bridwell, near CoUumpton. 
Mr. Davy, Fordton, near Crediton. 
Mr. M. DuNSFORD, Tiverton. 



560 



APPENDIX. 



few, and the sphere of the Society's operations limited. These 
circumstances may be attributed to various causes. There 
was at that period an unusually strong feeling in favour of " or- 
thodoxy," and especially of the standard set up by the Church 
of England. Again, many who might have been ranked under 
the denomination of Unitarian, were uot prepared to adopt the 
principles laid down in the Preamble of the new Society. A\- 
though such persons believed that the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ was the only proper object of religious wor- 
ship, and were decidedly opposed to the prominent doctrines of 
Calvinism, they could not relinquish their belief in the pre- 
existence of the Saviour, they objected to the terms "mere 
man," and "simple humanity," as applied to so exalted a being, 
and they considered the epithet " idolatrous' ' much too harsh, 
if not actually unwarrantable, when used in reference to Trini- 

Mr. G. DuNSFORD, Tiverton. 

Mr. J. Evans, Exeter. 

Rev. J. Isaac, Moreton-Hampstead. 

Rev. D. B. Jardine, Bath. 

S. Kenrick, Esq., Bewdley, Worcestershire. 

Rev. T. Kenrick, Exeter, 

Rev. J. Kentish, Plymouth Dock. 

Rev. T. LiNDSEY, Essex Street, London. 

Joseph Littlefear, Esq., Exeter. 

Rev. T. Morgan, Liskeard. 

Rev. S. Morgan, Collumpton. 

Samuel Pett, Esq. 

Rev. T. Porter, Plymouth. 

Rev. T. Reynell, Thorverton. 

Mr. W. Reynell, Barnstaple. 

W. RowE, Esq., Spence-Comb, near Crediton. 

Rev. J. RowE, Shrewsbury. 

Mr. S. Shute, Collumpton. 

Mr. J. Spry, Plymouth. 

W. Tayleur, Esq., Shrewsbury. 

J. TiNGCOMBE, Esq., PljTnouth. 

Rev. J. TouLMiN, Taunton. 

Mr. Tucker, Exeter. 

Rev. J. Williams, Bridwell, near Collumpton. 

The perusal of this list will excite a melancholy interest in the minds of 
the survivors, the number of whom, I believe, does not exceed four. 



APPENDIX. 



mi 



tarian worship. On these points they coincided with many 
gentlemen in various parts of the country, who would have 
joined the London Unitarian Society, had its Preamble been 
more comprehensive, and who deeply regretted that, at a time 
when union was more than ever desirable among all Antitrini- 
tarian Christians, the enlightened founders of the new societies 
attached so much importance to their own peculiar views of 
truth.* But the principal cause of the slow progress of the 
Western Society was the political unpopularity of its members. 
This was one of those periods when Dissent from the Church 
was stigmatized as Disaffection to the State ; and those Unita- 
rians who followed out the principles of Dissent with the great- 
est faithfulness received the largest share of public obloquy. 
The promoters of this society were especially distinguished for 
their consistent attachment to the cause of Civil and Religious 
Liberty. Nothing could induce them to swerve from the path 
of duty. Many of them experienced unremittiug insult ; year 
after year they beheld the spirit of persecution which excited the 
riots at Birmingham gain ground in every part of the kingdom ; 
they saw the Rowans of Ireland and the Muirs of Scotland con- 
signed to dungeons or exiled to foreign lands ; they saw their 
own beloved Priestley, the champion of their cause, "the patriot 

* The retaining of the word " idolatrous " in the London Preamble was 
strongly insisted upon by Mr. Belsham, Mr, Lindsey, Dr. Priestley, Mr. 
Russell, and Mr. Tayleur, and opposed by many gentlemen of equal emi- 
nence in their respective circles, especially by the whole body of Unitarians 
then existing in the University of Cambridge, who were compelled to 
withdraw their support from the Society. Among these were the Rev. 
W. Frend, M. A., formerly Fellow and Tutor of Jesus College, and Vicar 
of Long Stanton ; the Rev. R. Tyrrwhit, M. A., Fellow of Jesus College, and 
Founder of the Hebrew Scholarships, Cambridge ; and Mr. Jones, the 
celebrated Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge. Others joined the So- 
ciety, though they could not approve of the Preamble. Dr. Price, in par- 
ticular, said he could not sulFer an Unitarian society to exist without 
giving his name to it. 

Many years afterwards, Mr. Belsham admitted that it might have been 
prudent to omit the word " idolatrous," "as the doctrine which the Society 
desired to hold forth as their common faith, might have been expressed 
with equal distinctness and precision without it." See Belsham's Me- 
moirs of Lindsey, p. 299. 

2 o 



562 



APPENDIX. 



and saint and sage/' loaded with calumnies wlierever he went, 
railed at bj everj class from the drunken brawler of the pot- 
house to the "heaven-descended" leader of the House of Com- 
mons, — assailed from the pulpit by priests who, like Madan, 
wanted preferment — and from the press bj authors who, like 
Burke, wanted pensions, — and at length driven from the land 
he loved, to close his existence among strangers ; — the promoters 
of the Western Unitarian Society saw all this, and endured in 
their own persons more than those who live in the present day 
can easily imagine ; yet they did not falter ; they calmly yet 
earnestly continued to advocate what they believed to be the 
Truth of God ; and, though to worldly men their prospects 
seemed dark and cheerless, they had their reward ! * But to re- 
turn — this reward was certainly not found in the rapid progress 
of Unitarianism in the Western counties. Although the political 
disturbances of the time did not move such men as Mr. Toulmin 
and Mr. Kenrick, they alarmed the friends on whom these 
excellent ministers had reason to rely for support. A striking 
instance of this was witnessed in the year 1794, in reference to 
the holding of a meeting of the Society at George's Meeting, 
Exeter. Mr. Kenrick, the learned and benevolent instructor of 
the young— the faithful friend and counsellor of all, could not 
on this occasion obtain for his colleagues the use of his own 
pulpit. The Trustees refused to allow the Society to meet within 

* The lines of Mr. Coleridge, in his "Religious Musings written on 
Christmas Eve, 1794," have so striking an allusion to the horrors of the 
time, that, well as they are known, I cannot refrain from quoting them. 
He had been writing of "the mighty dead," — of Milton, Newton, and 
Hartley, — and thus proceeds : 

" Pressing on his steps, 
Lo ! Priestley there, patriot and saint and sage, 
Whom that my fleshly eye hath never seen, 
A childish pang of impotent regret 
Hath thrill'd my heart. Him from his native land 
Statesmen blood-stain'd, and priests idolatrous. 
By dark lies madd'ning the blind multitude, 
Drove with vain hate : calm, pitying he retir'd, 
And mus'd expectant on these promis'd years." 



APPENDIX. 



563 



the walls of their house of prayer, though the usual notice had 
been given at the request of one of the ministers. Happily, the 
admirable sermon of Mr. Reynell, — on adorning the doctrine 
professed by his hearers, — which he delivered by invitation in 
the Bow Meeting-house, may still be read by all who would 
know how noble was his object and how groundless were the 
fears of his opponents. "They misjudged" (says one of the 
writers I have already quoted) "the temper even of those trouble- 
some times, in apprehending any such danger, and they cer- 
tainly very much misconceived the motives of the projectors of 
the plan in question, if they suspected them of any concealed 
political schemes ; but it is not for us, natis meliorihus annis, 
harshly to pronounce that the refusal may not have proceeded 
from conscientious fears of the consequences : — when the love of 
innovation is inflamed into frenzy, it is not wonderful that pru- 
dence is chilled into timidity." * 

It was not until some time after the commencement of the 
present century that the society was much increased. The 
members assembled regularly, once a year, at the various towns 
in which there were Unitarian congregations, and a series of 
sermons were preached and published which proved highly ad- 
vantageous. Mr. Kenrick, of Exeter, continued to discharge 
the duties of Secretary until his death in 1804, when the seat 
of the Society was removed to Bristol, and those duties devolved 
on the Rev. John Rowe. The unwearied zeal of Mr. Kenrick 
has already been noticed; and, in 1814, the Society resolved 
to shew their sense of the value of Mr. Rowe's services through 
the intervening years, by presenting him with a copy of the 
Fac-simile of Beza's Manuscript, and (as soon as published) of 
Mr. Wellbeloved's Bible ; this testimonial, however, Mr. Rowe 
respectfully declined.f The offices of Treasurer and Secretary 
have since been ably filled by several gentlemen in Bristol, who 
in conjunction with the Committee have rendered the most 
valuable aid to the cause of Unitarianism by their selection of 
books for the annual catalogue, and their arrangements for pro- 

* Mon. Repos., Vol. xiii. p. 230. f Ibid., Vol. x. p. 459. 

2 o 2 



564 



APPENDIX. 



mo ting the interest and usefulness of the Annual Meetings.* 
At these meetings the rules of the Society have, from time to 
time, undergone a slight revision. On one occasion it was re- 
solved to discontinue the admission-fee of ten shillings and six- 
pence, which is consequently now not paid. 

Discussions frequently took place respecting the propriety of 
altering the Preamble so as to enable the Arians to become 
members. As early as the year 1811, this subject was taken 
into consideration at an annual meeting by the suggestion of 
Dr. Carpenter, an earnest advocate for the proposed comprehen- 
sion. But no decisive step was taken until the year 1819, 
when, at a meeting held at Bath, Dr. Carpenter, in accordance 
with a notice given the preceding year at Ilminster, submitted 
several resolutions in favour of the object he had in view. The 
original principle was defended by Mr. Kentish and several 
other members ; and Dr. Carpenter, finding that the disposition 
of the meeting was against the change, withdrew his proposed 
resolutions, t When twelve years more had elapsed, the sub- 
ject was again brought forward at a meeting at Bridgwater, and 
the alteration agreed to. It was resolved, 

" That union with this Society shall henceforwards be con- 
sidered as implying no more than the reception of the Essential 
Principles of Unitarianism ; viz. the Personal Unity, the Sole 
Deity, the Essential Mercy, and the Exclusive TVorsliip of 
Jehovah, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

The additions to the number of members during the first 
twenty years of the existence of the Society, appear from the 
lists appended to the annual sermons to be as follow : 

In 1792 there were 31. 

1798 45. 

1804 98. 

1812 217. 

* The present Treasurer is John Maningford, Esq. ; the Secretary, Mr. 
W. Browne, of Clare Street. 

t See Letters by Mr. Frend, Mr. Belsham, and Dr. Carpenter, Mon. 
Repos., Vol. xiv. 



APPENDIX. 



565 



For some years subsequently to 1812, tlie additions were not 
proportionablj great. The present number of members, though 
considerable,* is certainly smaller than the number of Unita- 
rians in the West of England would lead a stranger to suppose. 
It should be mentioned, however, that this body of Christians 
support two other societies for the promotion of their objects, 
and especially for establishing a greater bond of union — one in 
the counties of Dorset and Somerset, formed in 1818, the other 
for those of Devon and Cornwall, formed in 1813. It should 
also be mentioned, that during the past year, the Western So- 
ciety has exhibited considerable vigour ; a larger number of new 
members have been elected than within any preceding year, — 
even more than the Society was composed of at its first meet- 
ing ; the funds are in a satisfactory state ; the catalogue includes 
one hundred and eighty-eight valuable books and pamphlets ; 
and those who were present at the annual meeting and listened 
to the discourses of Mr. Wellbeloved and Mr. Aspland, will not 
easily forget the spirit that prevailed. 

I shall conclude this sketch with a list of the sermons preached 
before the Society ; but the reader will pardon me if I first intro- 
duce an extract for the purpose of here placing on record the 
impressions of " a miud at once zealous and enlightened, philo- 
sophical and elegant," t respecting the progress and prospects of 
the Society. 

" Had not those by whom it was projected been fully per- 
suaded that their cause was of God, and therefore must prosper, 
they might well have been dismayed by the inauspicious circum- 
stances of its birth and infancy, when the doctrines of the Unity 
of God could only be avowed by braving the penalties of law, 
when the civil power looked with jealousy on their association, 
and when only here and there an individual could be found, 
who, for the truth's sake, was willing to encounter popular 

* I do not exactly know what it is, as neither annual sermon nor list 
has been published for several years. 

t Review of a sermon preached before the Society by the Rev. J. Ken- 
rick. Mon. Rep., Vol. xii. p. 733. 



566 



APPENDIX. 



odium. The event has shewn, that manly courage, tempered by 
Christian prudence, will overcome obstacles, remove prejudices, 
and conciliate regard, and, in a few years, change opponents 
into advocates, and enemies into partisans. The seed which 
was sown beneath so inclement a sky, that it might well have 
been doubted whether the binder of sheaves should ever fill 
his bosom with the increase, has shot up with a vigour which 
removes all fears for the future, the fields have long been green 
and are rapidly becoming white unto the harvest. You need 
not, I am sure, my exhortation to recall and to honour the me- 
mory of those, who putting their hand to the plough looked not 
back, but held on their way, and accomplished their work, at 
the risk of reputation, of usefulness, of property, and of freedom. 
They indeed laboured, and we, of the present generation, have 
entered into their labours. O that at the same time we 
could enter into that zeal for the glory of God, and lively con- 
cern for the welfare of men, that unwearied activity in the dif- 
fusion of truth, and unshaken fortitude in meeting calumny and 
danger, which prompted them to undertake their task, and ena- 
bled them, under the Divine blessing, to carry it on so far towards 
its accomplishment." 

" Who that beholds the progress which the doctrine of the 
Unity of God has made in this kingdom, since the period to 
which I allude, can avoid exclaiming, ' It is the Lord's doing, 
and marvellous in our eyes ! ' Who that reflects on the simpli- 
city and scriptural authority of this doctrine, and on the inquir- 
ing spirit of the age, will think that we indulge the visions of a 
romantic imagination, in looking forward to its becoming the 
recognised belief of the Christian church, and, by purifying the 
gospel from one of its most revolting difficulties, preparing the 
way for its progress among those nations to whom the popular 
faith presents insuperable obstacles ? It is not indeed for us to 
know the times and the seasons, which the Father has put in his 
own power ; his kingdom cometh not with observation ; and, I 
believe that the open defection from the doctrines of orthodoxy, 
extensive and increasing as it is, is far less than the secret and 



APPENDIX. 



567 



almost unconscious renunciation of them, especially in those 
countries where controversy has not roused the spirit of contra- 
diction. The avowal and even the reception of the truth are 
influenced by a variety of accidental causes ; it may be abandon- 
ed by those whom we thought most zealously attached to it ; the 
dispensations of Providence may call away its most faithful advo- 
catesj ere half their term of years appear to have been complet- 
ed. We possess the treasure in earthen vessels, but the treasure 
itself is incorruptible, incapable of waste or destruction. Like 
a consecrated weapon, truth descends from one generation to 
another, sometimes wielded by a feebler, sometimes by a more 
vigorous arm ; but its own ethereal temper is unchanged, and its 
enemies shall continue to feel its penetrative power, till the last 
of them has resigned the contest. It is mighty, and in this con- 
flict it must prevail ; the maxim rests not only on the authority 
of successive ages of men, who have witnessed its partial ac- 
complishment and transmitted it with the seal of their experi- 
ence, but on the character and perfections of God, who must 
design the greatest happiness of his reasonable offspring, and 
whose power nothing can oppose and prosper." 



APPENDIX. 



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INDEX. 



Academies and Colleges t 
Aberdeen, 68, 519 
Abergavenny, 153 
Bridgwater, 172, 178, 179, 223 
Bridport, 237 
Bristol, 59, 80, 207, 321 
Cambridge, 16, 20, 60, 147, 486 
Carmarthen, 58, 160, 161, 216, 

237, 310, 339, 494, 524 
Colyton, 170, 335 
Daventry, 31, 153, 183, 218, 

237, 310, 325, 437, 459, 516 
Dublin, Trinity College, 14 
Edinburgh, 16, 202, 209, 260 
Exeter, 10, 162, 169, 367, 388, 

434, 441, 446, 449, 473, 488, 

492 

Findern, 172, 224 
Glasgow, 39, 43, 128, 173, 222, 
410 

Hackney, 94, 131, 149, 161, 518 
Harvard, N. E., 14, 151, 204 
Homerton, 33, 153 
Hoxton, 79, 131, 216, 261, 328, 

340, 356, 360, 449 
Islington — Mr. Doolittle's, 112, 

152 
Kendal, 477 

London — Dr. Jennings's, 79, 
203, 275 
London University, 506 
Mr. Rowe's, 41 
Mr. Spademan's, 105 
Mr. Aspland's, 474 



Manchester, 446 (see York) 
Northampton, 64, 189, 216, 237, 

244, 246, 325, 356, 492, 512 
Oxford, 16, 91, 185, 186, 274, 

288, 298, 376, 414, 418, 508, 

509, 541 
Rhode Island, N. E., 204 
Shepton MaUet, 168, 170 
Stratford-upon-Avon, 475 
Swansea, 519 

Taunton, 9, 10, 90, 151, 168, 172, 
194, 198, 208, 234, 235, 320, 
325, 432, 475, 490 
Tiverton, 67 
Trowbridge, 73 
Utrecht, 422 
Warrington, 128 
Wickham-Brook, 103 
York, 120, 149, 183, 184, 198, 
219, 242, 263, 282, 296, 348, 
408, 524 
Acton, H., Exeter, 409 

His pupils, 10, 184 
Acts of Parliament, notices of : 

Act of Uniformity, 6, 28, 98,. 

138, 253, 332, 372 
Conventicle Act, 376, 377, 380 
Oxford, or Five-Mile Act, 24, 29, 
221, 241, 298 l| 
Toleration Act, 213, 471 ' 
Adams, P., Honiton, 320, 324 
Adams, T., Marshfield, 40 
Lympstone, 358 
Addey, R., Gloucester, 9 



572 



INDEX. 



Aikin, Dr., quoted, 513 
Alsop, W., Ilminster, 230 
Amory, Dr., Taunton, 198, 208 
Andrews, N., Warminster, 91, 93 
Anstis, M., Colyton, 336, 339 
Armstrong, E., Bath, 141 
Ashwick congregation, 156 
Aspland, R. B., Bristol, 115 
Association for Devon and Corn- 
wall, 

Dorset and Somerset, 
Gloucester, Somerset, and 
Wilts, 39, 51 
Astley, R. Gloucester, 10 
Atkins, R., Exeter, 376, 414 
Atkey, A., Shepton, 167 
Awbrey, R., Gloucester, 10 
Aycrigg, B., Shepton, 168 



Baker, S., Bridport, 260 
Baker, T., Sidmouth, 349 
Ball, J., Honiton, 316 
Baptist Societies, 71, 192, 317, 460 
History of, in England, 463 
Baptism, adult, by a Presbyterian, 
180 

Barker, T., Bradford, 64 
Bartlett, E., Yeovil, 214, 220 
Bartlett, J. P., Topsbam, 368 
Bates, S., Warminster, 89 
Batb congregation, 138 
Batson, E., Taunton, 198 

Ilminster, 231, 234 
Batten, Mr., Colyton, 335 
Bayley, J., Warminster, 91 
Beeby, Mr,, Cirencester, 25 
Benn, W., Dorchester, 266, 274 
Bennett, A., Poole, 296 
Berry, B., Topsbam, 367 
Berry, J., Sidmouth, 345 

Crediton, 459 
Bidle, J., Gloucester, 5 
Billingsley, N., Ashwich, 157, 161 
Billingsley, S., Bradford, 64 
Blake, M., Honiton, 244, 315 
Blake, W., Crewkcrnc, 242, 244 



Blake, W., Jun., Yeovil, 217 
Crewkerne, 242, 244 
Blatchford, S., Topsbam, 368 
Bourn, S., Calne, 56, 60 
Bowen, T., Ilminster, 234, 237 
Bradford congregation, 64 
Bransby, J. H., Moreton, 473 
Bretland, J., Exeter, 402, 445 

Quoted, 493 
Brett, H., Plymouth, 503 
Bridgwater congregation, 176 
Bridport congregation, 252 
Bridwell chapel, 305, 559 
Bristol congregation, 99 
Broadhurst, T., Bath, 148 

Taunton, 199 
Brock, G. B., Gloucester, 10 
Browne, J., Sidmouth, 345 
Browne, Simon, 167, 172 
Browne, T., Gloucester, 10, 16 

Warminster, 92 
Browne, W. S., Bridgwater, 183 
Buckler, J., Warminster, 87, 92 
Burgess, T., Taunton, 192 
Burnet, Bishop, quoted, 468, 469 
Bury, S., Bristol, 107, 109 
Butcher, E., Sidmouth, 347, 350 
Butcher, Mr., Warminster, 89 
Butler, H., Yeovil, 21 3 



Calamy, Dr., Joimiey to the West, 
501 

Calderwood, D., Shepton, 166 
Calne congregation, 56 
Carel, R., Crediton, 455 
Carpenter, Dr., Bristol, 115 

Exeter, 408 
Chandler, H., Bath, 152 
Chapman, T., CoUumpton, 309 
Chapman, W., Sidmouth, 350 
Chaplyn, Mr., Wareham, 278 
Charles II., Declaration of Indul- 
gence, 378, 380 

Resisted in New England, 
14 



INDEX. 



573 



Cheltenham congregation, 20 
Cirencester congregation, 24 
Clarke, H., French ay, 51 
Clarke, Mr., Wareham, 278 
Cock, J., Plymonth, 503 
Cogan, E., Cirencester, 26 
Coleman, Dr., Bath, 139, 151 
Collier, J., Crewkerne, 242 
Collier, J., Moreton, 470, 477 
Collier, T., Taunton, 192 
Collins, T., Ilminster, 231 

Bridport, 254 
Collnmpton congregation, 302 
Colyton congregation, 332 
Coombe, Mr., Bradford, 65 
Cooper, D., Topsham, 367 
Cooper, T., Moreton, 473 
Cornish, J., Colyton, 336, 340 
Cornish Unitarians, 534 
Crabb, H., Cirencester, 26, 30 
Cranch, J., Ilminster, 234, 236 
Crediton congregation, 454 
Cree, R., Bridport, 260 
Crellius, quoted, 401 
Crewkerne congregation, 240 
Crosby, quoted, 467 
Crompton, W., Collumpton, 302 
309 

Cropper, J., Exeter, 410 
Cumming, J., Shepton, 166, 170 
Cure, J., Trowbridge, 73 



Dangerfield, Mr., Bradford, 64, 88 
David, Job, Taunton, 198, 207 
Davies, Dr., Taunton, 198 

Crediton, 459 
Davies, Evan, Poole, 294 
Davis, R., Marshfield, 41 
Davis, J., Calne, 58 
Davis, J., Collumpton, 306, 310 
Davisson, J., Trowbridge, 71 
Denham, J., Gloucester, 9 
Devon and Cornwall Assembly, 548 
Devonport congregation, 528 
Diaper, J., Bristol, 107 



Dickenson, J., Gloucester, 10 
Dissenters, sufferings of, 87, 176, 

187, 213, 240, 268, 377, 382 
Dixon, A., Cirencester, 26 
Dorchester congregation, 266 
Dowdell, B., Tavistock, 488 
Downe, R., Bridport, 252 
Drewitt, R., Bridport, 253 



Eaton, W., Bridport, 252 
Edwards, A., Dorchester, 271 
Edwards, J., Trowbridge, 71 
Edwards, J., Crediton, 459 
Edwards, J., Honiton, 315 
Edwards, T., Tavistock, 494 

Exeter, 402 
Elson, J., Poole, 295 
Emlyn, Mr., 401 
Enty, J., Exeter, 403 

Plymouth, 500 
Estlin, Dr., Bristol, 114, 127 
Evans, D., Marshfield, 39 
Evans, D., Devonport, 527 
Evans, E., Trowbridge, 71 
Evans, J., Ashwick, 1 60 

Shepton, 169 
Evans, J., Cirencester, 25 
Evans, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 
Evans, J., Marshfield, 39 

Bradford, 65 
Evans, R., Collumpton, 302 
Evans, W., Bridgwater, 182 

Tavistock, 488 
Eveliegh, J., Crediton, 459 
Exeter congregation, 372 

controversyin 1717, 388, 502 : 
in 1814, 409 
Effects of, 158, 179, 304 



Falmouth and Flushing congrega- 
tions, 536 

Fawcett, S., Yeovil, 217. His exer- 
tions at Bridport, 255 



574 



INDEX. 



Fenner, J. L., Taunton, 1 98 
Ferguson, R., anecdote of, 385 
Flamanck, H., TaAdstock, 487 
Flexman, Dr., Bradford, 64, 67 

Crediton, 456 
FoUett, J., Topsham, 368 
Foot, J., Bradford, 64 
Foot, W., Moreton, 469, 475 
Fones, S., Lympstone, 354 
Forbes, J., Gloucester, 8, 16 
Forsbrey, J., Frencbay, 57 
Foster, Dr. J., 158 
Fox, Charles James, quoted, 194, 267 
Fox, J., of Plymouth, quoted, 268, 

388, 426, 491, 501 
Frank, J., Bath, 140 
Freeman, S., Honiton, 321 
French Revolution and the persecu- 
tion of Dissenters, 304 
Frencbay congregation, 48 
Fry, R., Cirencester, 26 
Furber, Mr., Cheltenham, 20 
Furze, W., Exeter, 403 



Gardener, J., Bridgwater, 177 
Gaylard, R., Exeter, 412 
Gibbs, S., Devonport, 528 
Gibson, Mr., Sidmouth, 349 
GiU, J., Colyton, 333 
Gisburne, J., Trowbridge, 78, 81 
Glass, R., Yeovil, 215 

CoUumpton, 309 
Gloucester congregation, 4 
Goswell, Mr., Honiton, 315 
Gough, S., Bristol, 106 
Gough, W., Warminster, 86 
Graham, D., Yeovil, 216 
Green, J., Exeter, 404 
Gregory, A., Cirencester, 24, 28 
Griffith, J., Frencbay, 49 
Grosvenor, Dr., London, 10 
Grove, H., Taunton, 194 
Gummer, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 



Hallet, J., Bridport, 252 
Exeter, 376, 415 
Hallet, J. (Second), Exeter, 386, 388 
Hallet, J. (Third), Exeter, 401, 402 
Hallet, Mr., Crewkerne, 242 
Hammond, G., Taunton, 193 

Dorchester, 266 
Hancock, T., Lympstone, 355 
Harding, Mr., Falmouth, 540 
Harding, N., Plymouth, 498, 510 
Hardy, S., Poole, 288, 297 
Harriss, J. R., Ilminster, 234, 237 
Harrison, R., Taunton, 200, 202 

Moreton, 470 
Harson, D., Moreton, 473 
Hartford, E., Taunton, 194 
Harwood, P., Bridport, 260 
Hawkes, H., Marshfield, 39 
Hayes, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 
Hayward, S., Poole, 293 
Hazlitt, W., Marshfield, 43 
Hazlitt, W., Jun., quoted, 45 
Heath, G., Honiton, 316 
Heineken, N. S., CoUumpton, 307 

Sidmouth, 350 
Herbert, E., Ash wick, 160 
Hincks, W., Exeter, 409. Quoted, 
448 

Hinton, G. P., Marshfield, 39 

Crediton, 459 
Hodge, Dr. J., Gloucester, 9 
Hogg, J., Sidmouth, 347 

Exeter, 402 Crediton, 457 
Holt, J., Cirencester, 26, 33 

Crediton, 459 
Honiton congregation, 314 
Hook, Mr., CoUumpton, 309 
Hooper, — , Exeter, 412 
Hoppin, — , Exeter, 412 
Horsfield, F., Cirencester, 26 
Horsfield, T. W., Taunton, 200 
Horsham, W., Topsham, 367 
Hort, Dr. J., Marshfield, 37, 41 
Hort, W. J., Frencbay, 50 

Crediton, 457 
Houson, H., Bridgwater, 183 
Howe, T., Bridport, 254, 261 



INDEX. 



575 



Howel, J., Bridgwater, 182 

Yeovil, 216 Poole, 292 
Hughes, D., Yeovil, 219, 226 
Hughes, G., Plymouth, 496 
Hughes, J., Honiton, 321, 328 
Hughes, W., Sidmouth, 347 
Hunt, W., Yeovil, 230 
Hunter, J., Bath, 149 



Ilminster congregation, 230 
Independent congregations origin 
of: 

Bath, 143 

Bridport, 254 

Exeter, 374 

Gloucester, 11 

Honiton, 316 

Taunton, 194 

Warminster, 90 
Inscriptions on Communion Cups 

at Plymouth, 498 

Foundation Stone at Marsh- 
field, 37 

Mr. Baxter's Works at Yeovil, 
215 

Pulpit at Trowbridge, 72 
Summer-house at Ash wick, 159 
Tablets (see Monumental) 
Isaac, J., Moreton, 474, 479 



Jacob, N., Plymouth, 498, 509 
James, W., Bridgwater, 184 

Sidmouth, 348 
James II., his Declaration of Indul- 
gence, 15, 315 
Hypocrisy towards the Church 

of England, 268 
Persecution of the Dissenters, 
382 

Attempts to restore Popery, 378 
Jardine, D., Bath, 147, 153 
Jeffrey, T., Exeter, 402 
Jeffries, Judge, 267 



Jeffries, J., Taunton, 200, 201 
Jeffries, J., Topsham, 368 
Jenkins, J., Yeovil, 219 
Jeremy, T., Ilminster, 234 
Jervis, J., Lympstone, 355, 362 
Jervis, T., Lympstone, 355, 360 

Quoted, 447 
Jillard, P., Crediton, 456 

Tavistock, 488 
Jillard, Peard, Shepton, 171 
Johns, J., Crediton, 459 
Jones, D., Trowbridge, 74, 80 
Jones, J., Bridgwater, 183 
Jones, Dr. J,, Plymouth, 504, 518 
Jones, J., Plymouth, 505, 524 
Jones, T., Calne, 56 



Keech, J., Ilminster, 234, 236 
Keeling, John, Cirencester, 25 
Kell, Mr., Wareham, 279 
Kenn, Major, quoted, 100 
Kenrick, J., quoted, 557, 565 
Kenrick, T., Exeter, 406, 437 
Kentish, John, Plymouth, 505 

Devonport, 526 
Kentish, Joseph, Bristol, 103 
Kerridge, J., Colyton, 333 
Kettle, J., Dorchester, 270 
Kiddel, B., Shepton, 170 

Sidmouth, 345 
King, Mr., Ashwick, 160 
Kings, John, Cirencester, 26 
Knight, R., Crewkerne, 241 



Lacy, J., Sidmouth, 345 
Lamb, T., Dorchester, 271, 275 
Lamport, W., Honiton, 317 
Lamport, W., Jun., Poole, 294 
Larkham, T., Tavistock, 483 
Lavington, J., Exeter, 386 
Lawes, J., Trowbridge, 71 
Lay preaching at Moreton, 474 



576 



INDEX. 



Letters from 

Bury, Mr., to his flock, 109 
Butler, Mr., to a Country Dis- 
senter, 378 
Collier, Mr., to the Taunton 

Baptists, 192 
Collumpton congregation to 

Mr. Evans, 303 
Pope, Mr., to the Lewin's Mead 
society, 107 
Lewis, D., Frenchay, 49 

Ashwick, 160 
Lewis, J., Crediton, 459 
Lewis, L., Dorchester, 271 

Crediton, 459 
Libraries, Academical : 
Exeter, 10 
Taunton, 10 
Trowbridge, 73 
Lines by a popular Poet, 545 
Rev. E. Butcher, 352 
Rev. E. Jervis, 362 
Rev. H. Moore, 514 
T. Moore, Esq., 483 
To the memory of Mr. Da\ds, 
312 

Mr. Coleridge, 562 
Liturgy, reasons for introducing, 257 

used in Presbyterian chapels, 
13, 65, 256, 402, 410, 506 
Lobb, Dr., Yeovil, 215, 221 
Lord's Supper regulations, 405 
Lucas, T., Trowbridge, 71 
Lush, W., Warminster, 90, 180 
Lympstone congregation, 354 



Mackintosh, Sir J., quoted, 87 
Madgwick, W., Poole, 216 
Manning, J., Exeter, 406, 448 

Quoted, 550, 551 
Manston, J., Lympstone, 355 
Manton, Dr., Colyton, 332 
Mardon, B., his Pupil, 506 
Marriages, solemnized by a Non- 
conformist, 499 



Marshall, J., Yeovil, 216 
Marshall, T. and N., Ilminster, 231 
Marshfield congregation, 36 
Martin, M., Lympstone, 355 
Martin, S., Marshfield, 40 

Bradford, 66 
Martyn, S., Plymouth, 496 
Martjm, T., Plymouth, 496 
Mather, Dr., Gloucester, 7, 14 
Matthew, G, F., Colyton, 338 
Maurice, M., Frenchay, 50 

Sidmouth, 348 
Maurice, Mortimer, Bridgwater, 184 
Maynard, J., Honiton, 317, 324 
Melhuish, J., Cahie, 57 
Merivale, S., Tavistock, 488, 492 
Milner, Dr., Yeovil, 215, 223 
Mitchelson, J., Poole, 296 
Monmouth, Duke of, notices of his 
Rebellion, 8, 101, 193, 194, 244 
253, 267, 384 
Montreal, Unitarianism at, 227 
Monumental inscriptions : 
Amory, Thomas, 210 
Atkey, Anthony, 167 
Blake, WilUam, 243 
Blake, WiUiam, Jun., 243 
Browne, Simon, 167 
Bro\\Tie, Theophilus, 147 
Collier, John, 470 
Cornish, Joseph, 338 
Davis, John, 308 
Estlin, John Prior, 126 
Evans, Da-\id, 41 
Evans, Richard, 308 
Foot, William, 475 
Forbes, James, 9 
Heineken, Mrs., 308 
Holt, James, 34 
Howe, Thomas, 256 
Howse, Henry Edward, 146 
Jones, Daniel, 78 
Jones, Dr. J., 524 
Kings, Mr. and Mrs., 27 
Morgan, Samuel, 307 
Morgan, Mrs., 308 
Osier, Thomas, 182 



INDEX. 



Peirce, James, 411, 430 
Stephenson, Joseph, 291 
Thomas, Evan, 41 
Waldron, William, 78 
Watson, Thomas, 182 
Webb, Francis, 327 
Wright, Thomas, 125 
Wright, John, 126 
Moore, H., Plymouth, 503 
Moore, H., Jun., Liskeard, 511 
Moore, J., Bridgwater, 177, 186 
Moore, J., Jun., Bridgwater, 178 
Morell, Dr., his pupil, 409 
Moreton congregations, 462 
Morgan, S., Collumpton, 304, 309 
Mosheim, quoted, 465 
Murch, J., Bath, 150 



Neal, quoted, 542 
Newton, G., Taunton, 193 
Nightingale, quoted, 102 
Noon, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 
Norman, J., Bridgwater, 176, 185 
Nowell, B., Dorchester, 268 



Perrot, S., Yeovil, 216 
Phillips, S., Jun., Dorchester, 271 
Phillips, S., Poole, 292 
Philp, Mr., Falmouth, 537 
Pitts, A., Topsham, 367 
Plymouth congregation, 496 
Poole congregation, 288 
Pope, M., Bristol, 106 
Pope, J., Crediton, 455 
Porter, T., Plymouth, 508 
Presbyterianism prevalent 

at Bristol, 101 

Exeter, 374 
Presbyterian congregations, causes 

of their decline, 140, 293 
Presbyterians intolerant towards 
Bidle, 5 

Priestley, Dr., addresses to, 407, 553 
His Sermons used at Chelten- 
ham, 21 
Known to Rev. W. Hazlitt, 44 
Sons educated at Frenchay, 50 
Residence at Calne, 58 
General unpopularity, 561 
Prince of Orange, his reception at 
Exeter, 384 



OdgerSjW., Plymouth, 504. Quoted, 
532 

Ordination, sentiments on, 163, 346, 
431, 499 

Ordination services, 147, 294, 340, 

345, 363 
Owen, J., Yeovil, 219 



Palk, W., Sidmouth, 345 
Parry, J., Cirencester, 26, 29 
Parminster, R., Ilminster, 234, 237 
Parr, J., Moreton, 473 
Paterson, Mr., Marshfield, 36 
Peirce, J,, Exeter, 386, 421. Quoted, 

387, 389, 393, 400 
Penn, W., Warminster, 88 
Pearse, Mr., Tavistock, 487 



Queen Anne's Bounty, 161 
Queen Adelaide's visit to Oxfoi-d, 
419 



Read, J., Cirencester, 26 
Read, Mr., Bradford, 64 
Retired places, zeal of Noncon- 
formists in, 156, 333, 214 
Reynell, J., Plymouth, 504, 515 
Reynell, T., Crediton, 458, 459 
Reynolds, J., Gloucester, 9 
Richards, W., Bristol, 113 
Risdon, quoted, 484 
Roberts, G., Warminstei', 91 
Rosewell, J., Colyton, 338 
Rowe, J., Bristol, 115, 131 



578 



INDEX. 



Rowe, T., Poole, 292 
Rowland, J., Moretou, 473 
Rowntree, M., Poole, 296 
Rowswell, R., Calne, 56 
Russell, House of, 482 
Rutter, J., Honiton, 316 



Sacheverell, his partisans at Bristol, 
102 

Sandercock, J., Tavistock, 487, 490 
Saunders, Mr., Honiton,135 
Schools, Bristol, 121 Plymouth, 507 
Seal, G., Marshfield, 36 
Seaward, R., Poole, 292 

Lympstone, 357 
Seyer, quoted, 100, 102 
Shaplaud, A., Marshfield, 36 
Shepton congregation, 166 
Sherman, Dr., Shepton, 171 
SherwiU, N., Plymouth, 497 
Short, A., Topsham, 366 
Short, S., Colyton, 333 
Shute, H., Shepton, 170 
Sidmouth congregation, 344 
Simpson, J., Bath, 145 
Skey, G., Colyton, 338 
Slater, S., Colyton, 335 
Smethurst, J., Moreton, 473 
Smith, J., Colyton, 338 
Smith, I., Sidmouth, 350 
Smith, Dr. S., Yeovil, 218 
Smith, S., Cirencester, 25 
Soreton, F., Honiton, 314 
South, C, Warminster, 86, 93 
Southwick congregation, 71, 76,478 
Spademan, Mr., 104, 105 
Sparke, A., 472 
Spencer, B., Dorchester, 270 
Squire, H., VVareham, 282 
Starr, B., Topsham, 367 
Stevenson, J., Crewkcrne, 240 
Stevenson, Dr. B., Bath, 140 

Sidmouth, 344 
Stogdon, H., 162 
Strong, J., Ilniinstcr, 231, 235 



Stucklej^ L., Exeter, 373, 413 
Sutton, W., Bridport, 254 



Taplin, J., Honiton, 324 

Colyton, 337 
Tapper, S., Lympstone, 354, 359 
Taunton congregation, 192 
Ta\dstock congregation, 482 

Abbey, accoimt of, 484 
Taylor, Mr., Calne, 59 
Taylor, C, Bath, 138, 151 
Taylor, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 
Tea Meetings, Bristol, 118 
Teggin, J. G., Taunton, 200 

Bridport, 264 
Terry, H., Moreton, 469 
Thomas, E., Marshfield, 37 
Thomas, S., Frenchay, 50 
Thomas, S., Yeovil, 215 
Thomas, Mr., Wareham, 279 
Thomas, Mr., Moreton, 470 
Tidcombe, J., Gloucester, 9, 25 
Tingcombe, J., Frenchay, 51 

Bridgwater, 183 

Plymouth, 508 
Tomkins, Mr., Crewkerne, 24 
Totness congregation, 369 
Toulmin, Dr., Taunton, 196, 203 

Colyton, 335 
Towgood, Matt., Bridgwater, 178, 
188 

Towgood, Matt., Shepton, 168, 17 
Poole, 292 Colyton, 335 
Towgood, Micaijah, Exeter, 404, 
432 
Crediton, 458 
Moretou, 473 
Towgood, S., Topsham, 367 

Exeter, 404 
Tozer, A., Exeter, 406 
Tremlett, J., Gloucester, 10 
Trela\ray, Sir H., Memoir of, 543 
Tremlett, T., Warminster, 91 
Trossc, G., Exeter, 376, 416. Quoted, 
383 



INDEX. 



Trowbridge congregation, 70 
Turner, T., Lympstone, 355 
Twining, T., Trowbridge, 74, 79 
Tyler, J., Frenchay, 49 

Wallace, Mr., Wareham, 285 
Waldron, W., Trowbridge, 73 
Walker, S., Crewkerne, 242 
Walrond, J., Exeter, 405 
Warren, M., Taunton, 194 
Ward, J., Taunton, 197 
Yeovil, 215, 224 
Wareham congregation, 278 
Warminster congregation, 86 
Waters, G., Bridport, 254 
Waterliouse, B., Warminster, 91 
Watson, T., Bridgwater, 170, 189 
Watson, T., Jun., Plymouth 

Bath 145 
Watts, G., Crediton, 459 
Wawne, G. B., Bridport, 260, 263 
Webb, N., Calne, 56 
Weeks, J., Bristol, 99 
Webb, F., Honiton, 320, 325 
Wesley, J., Poole, 290, 298 
West, W,, Ilminster, 232 

Sidmouth, 345 

Exeter, 402 



579 

Western Unitarian Society, 556 
Wheeler, Mr., Honiton, 320 
Whinnel, T., Taunton, 200, 201 
Whiston, W., 389, 401, 424 
Whitfield, E., Ilminster, 234 
Williams, E., Calne, 58 
Bradford, 65 
Williams, W., Ilminster, 234, 237 
Williams, D., Exeter, 402 
Wilkins, J., Colyton, 332 
Wilson, W., Crewkerne, 242 
Withers, J., Exeter, 386 
Woolcombe, R., Moreton, 471, 475 
Worsley, I., Plymouth, 504. Quoted, 
199 

Worth, S., Cirencester, 25 
Wright, R., Bradford, 65 

Trowbridge, 75. Quoted, 539 
Wright, T., Bristol, 114. 



Yeates, M. L., CoUumpton, 307 

Sidmouth, 348 
Yeovil congregation, 212 
Youatt, W., Colyton, 335 



Lately published, by the same Author, price One Shilling, 
CHRIST'S HOLY GOSPEL: 
A LECTURE 

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January 18th, 1835. 



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